If we aren’t in the middle of an emergency, what would you call it?!

Jacob Pramuk for CNBC reports that, “The House will not return to Washington until May 4 ‘unless it has to pass an emergency bill.’”

“The Senate is set to return April 20 as of now.”

“The House will not come back to Washington until at least May 4 unless it needs to pass emergency measures to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, [Democrat] Majority Leader [A congressman from Maryland, and the second ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives behind Nancy Pelosi] Steny Hoyer’s office told representatives Monday.”

“House members, most of whom have been in their districts for all of April as Covid-19 spreads, will not have to travel to Washington before May 4 ‘absent an emergency,’ the Maryland Democrat’s office said. It added that lawmakers would get ‘sufficient notice’ if they have to travel to Washington to vote on coronavirus legislation.”

“Absent an emergency?”

Pelosi and Hoyer don’t think what the country is experiencing right now is an emergency?

The money set aside for small business relief, $350 billion, has already run out, and many small businesses and their employees are in jeopardy.

That’s not an emergency enough for you, Steny?

That’s not an emergency enough for you, Nancy?

“As efforts to stall the coronavirus’ spread have wrecked the U.S. economy…, Senate Republicans last week tried to pass a bill to inject $250 billion more into a small business loan program set up in the rescue legislation. Democrats blocked the measure, then the GOP rejected a Democratic counter offer that included more money for states and hospitals fighting the pandemic, along with funding for food assistance programs.”

Can we not just increase the money available to small businesses, and then address all of this other stuff with a separate bill?

Do we really have to muddy the waters every time with every bill?

It really shouldn’t be that difficult.

“While Democrats have held some discussions with the Trump administration on the issue, neither major party’s congressional leaders have showed a willingness to back down from their demands yet.”

Just like the band on board The Titanic playing while the ship was sinking.

“Republicans refused to back down over the weekend. In a joint statement Saturday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said, ‘they reject the Democrats’ reckless threat to continue blocking job-saving funding unless we renegotiate unrelated programs which are not in similar peril.’”

Like I said, “Can we not just increase the money available to small businesses, and then address all of this other stuff with a separate bill?”

“While Congress has been out of the Capitol, the coronavirus has taken a steeper human and economic toll. U.S. Covid-19 cases now top 560,000, and the disease has been linked to more than 22,800 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.”

“Meanwhile, more than 16 million people have filed new jobless claims over a three-week period.”

I value your feedback and I’d love to hear from you!

If you’re not already “following” me and you liked my blog(s) today, please “click” on the comment icon just to the right of the date at the bottom of this article. From there you can let me know if you “like” my blog, leave a comment or click the white “FOLLOW” button at the bottom of that page, which will keep you up to date on all of my latest posts.

Thank you, MrEricksonRules.

April 17, 2020 1

Our national debt is a national disgrace!

You’ll hear people complaining that the more than $22,000,000,000,000 ($22 trillion) national debt we have can be blamed on democrats and republicans, and they would be correct, but on the other hand I don’t see liberals attempting to really do anything about it or bring it to anyone’s attention.

There is at least a group of conservative congress people who attempt to act like responsible adults.

In this instance, a number of republican lawmakers are seeking to declare our $22 trillion debt a national security threat, and there is no doubt that our debt IS a national security threat.

According to Doug McKelway, a Washington correspondent for Fox News, “Few politicians appear willing to address the hard choices that debt reduction would entail: higher taxes and less spending.”

Wow…, now that is breaking news…, NOT!

Not only do most politicians not want to talk about debt reduction, quite a few of our liberal friends are actually promoting a seemingly unlimited expansion of the national debt.

“We introduced this resolution because the United States is racing towards a fiscal cliff,” Representative Andy Biggs, a Republican from Arizona, who is sponsoring the legislation, said. “Congress is taking few measures to solve this problem, and it is beyond time for our colleagues in both chambers to become serious about balancing the nation’s budget and recognize this issue as a threat to our national security.”

According to Sally Persons of Fox News, “A similar resolution was introduced last year on the House side, but this time sponsors were able to get some support from Senate colleagues. Biggs has been working with Senator David Perdue, a republican from Georgia, and a vocal advocate for addressing the debt, who even has a debt clock in his office, on a similar resolution in the upper chamber.”

“The single greatest threat to our national security is our national debt, and it’s time Washington comes to grips with that reality,” Perdue told Fox News. “This month, our national debt topped $22 trillion. This news should have sounded alarms throughout Washington, but bureaucrats and career politicians didn’t even blink an eye.”

Senator Rand Paul, a republican from Kentucky, admonished his fellow members last year over the budget and spending increases. His opposition actually led to a short government shutdown.

“If you were against President Obama’s deficits and now you’re for the Republican deficits isn’t that the very definition of hypocrisy?” Paul said on the Senate floor last year. “Don’t you remember when Republicans howled to high heaven that President Obama was spending us into the gutter, spending us into oblivion?”

Leaders in the national security community have also made their concerns known about the massive debt. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats listed the debt as a national security concern last year in a hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

“This situation is unsustainable as I think we all know and represents a dire threat to our economic and national security,” Coats said.

“Ultimately, the debt impacts our ability to fund priorities, like providing our men and women in uniform with the resources they need to protect Americans,” Perdue said. “This debt crisis will only get worse, and if we don’t act now, our country will lose the ability to do the right thing.”

Let’s take a closer look about what we’re actually talking about here when we talk about a national debt of over $22,000,000,000,000 ($22 trillion).

Every citizen, meaning every man, woman, child or whatever you are, would have to come up with about $68,000 to pay off the national debt.

According to Chris Pandolfo of the Conservative Review:

Not every citizen pays taxes, however. Every taxpaying citizen owes approximately $166,000 towards the national debt.

The national debt is bigger than the value of everything produced in America over one year (U.S. GDP, Gross Domestic Product, = $19.3 trillion).

That means every dollar you worked for this year and everything of value produced in this country right now is not enough to meet our debt obligations.

Government estimates currently project this year’s budget deficit alone will be $693 billion, which in turn gets added to the running national debt.

To avoid default, the government needs to make interest payments on our debt. As the debt increases, the interest payments go up, too.

A complete collapse is the threat of such uncontrollable debt. And an economic collapse would mean massive cuts to government programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid in a very short amount of time.

When taxes go up, social services stop, paychecks get smaller, and jobs are lost. There, you have the perfect recipe for civil unrest. This is what happened in Greece.

Our national debt increases at an average rate of $27,762.94 per second.

If it took you five minutes to read this, the debt grew by at least another $8 million in that time.

This obviously cannot last.

Eventually we will be unable to make the payments we need to make. When that happens, this country could see economic devastation that looks like Venezuela.

In his farewell address, George Washington urged the nation to “avoid … the accumulation of debt not only by shunning occasions of expense but by vigorous exertions to discharge the debts, no throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear.”

It’s time to take President Washington’s advice seriously, or we all will end up suffering.

Additionally, Simon Black from the website Sovereignman.com added:

A “trillion” almost seems like a fantasy… a made-up number like “a bajillion” or “a gazillion.”

It’s a number so large that our minds don’t even have the ability to grasp the real meaning of it, because there is so little within our physical human experience that we can relate to it.

To put the number into perspective, consider that in the entire history of humanity no other nation has ever had as much debt as the United States. And yes, that fact is adjusted for inflation.

Let’s say you start spending money when Jesus was born, on the first Christmas.

You start spending $1,000,000 (1 million) every hour. Over two thousand years pass, and by a miracle, you’re still alive…, and you’re still spending $1,000,000 every hour since Jesus’ birth.

So, spending $1,000,000 X 24 hours per day X 365 days per year X 2018 years…, you’d spend $18 trillion. You’d still have spent less that the current US national debt.

Worse yet, the Treasury Department has already estimated that it will borrow another $1 trillion this fiscal year, an additional $1 trillion next year, and another trillion dollars the year after that.

Can you see the insanity?

But the scariest factor is how quickly the US national debt is growing.

On October 22, 1981, the national debt in the United States crossed the $1 trillion threshold for the first time in history.

People were rightly dismayed. It had taken nearly two centuries to reach that unfortunate milestone.

And over that time the country had been through a revolution, civil war, two world wars, the Great Depression, the nuclear arms race…, plus dozens of other conflicts, financial panics, and economic crises.

So who owns the $22 trillion of our national debt?

If you are like most people, you probably have the most concerns about the Chinese and other foreign holders of the national debt. But in reality you should be most worried about the national debt owned by the American people.

It’s a bigger number than all the foreign holders combined.

This may seem unbelievable at first, but let’s take it step-by-step and in a moment it will all make sense. We’ll start with the biggest holders of the national debt:

Federal Agencies:

The second biggest holder are other branches of the US government. You may feel relieved reading this…, after all, it looks like the US government owes a huge portion of its debt to itself and could simply “erase” it if it wanted to.

But it’s important to look closer, because this is the first way of how you own a big portion of the government debt.

The vast majority of this debt is actually held by various government funds such as Social Security and retirement funds.

So…, the entitlements causing our debt own a lot of our debt? How does that work?

This is getting scary.

The US government has made the promise to take care of its citizens. To achieve this goal they put a portion of the collected tax revenue into various funds.

These funds don’t just keep the money in the bank and instead invest a portion of it into various financial instruments to grow it. One of these financial instruments is the national debt in the form of government bonds.

But the important thing to realize here is that this money belongs to the American citizens and not to the government.

And the government has the obligation to pay back that debt in order to allow the Social Security Trust Fund and other funds to fulfill their obligations to the people.

If they don’t pay it back, then it is you, the American citizen, who is on the hook for that debt.

This seems to be a “circular” nightmare that just cannot end well.

The Financial Industry:

The third biggest holder is the financial industry. These are mutual funds, banks, private pensions, insurance companies, savings bonds and so on.

This is another way of you how are exposed to and own the government debt. Even if you personally don’t own the debt, you certainly have a bank account, a 401(k) or an IRA.

And these financial institutions own government bonds purchased with your money.

Here again, we are somehow profiting from our own debt…, our own demise?

The Federal Reserve (America’s central bank):

The Federal Reserve is the fourth biggest holder. It’s the central bank of the United States and also known as “The Fed.” And although it sounds like a government entity, there is nothing “federal” about the Federal Reserve, it’s a private institution.

This private institution has control over the money supply of the United States. It establishes interest rates and has the power to conjure up money out of thin air.

This is an extraordinary power. And it has been awarded to an unelected committee of power brokers, many whom come from the investment banks.

I don’t like the sound of this already.

It works like this:

“The Fed” literally creates money out of thin air and buys government debt with it. The government uses that money to fund government operations, but in return it has to pay interest to The Fed.

Then The Fed pays out a portion of the earned interest and other profits as dividends to its shareholders, who happen to be other private banks such as JPMorgan.

Much of your income taxes are not used for roads, schools or other public services, but are spent on interest paid to The Fed…, on money it created out of nothing.

Huh?

It’s a perverse system designed to transfer wealth from the American people directly to the banking elite. By continuing its unsustainable spending and debt habits, the US government is stealing from the future, your future and your children’s future.

So it is basically what we have come to expect from “the swamp.”

Other holders:

Other debt holders include individuals, bank trusts and estates, businesses and other investors… to the tune of over $1.6 trillion.

Included among these “other holders” of US debt is legendary investor and CEO/chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett. Berkshire has over $100 billion parked in short-term Treasury bills.

State and Local Governments:

Large financial institutions, hedge funds and other investors are not alone in their holdings of US government debt.

Your state government has money invested in US government debt. And it’s likely that your local government also holds federal debt.

So, with your state and even local government holding a portion of the US national debt, you’re a creditor exposed in multiple ways to a federal government default.

The Social Security “Trust Fund” owns $2.8 trillion of our debt, roughly the same as the top 5 foreign holders of US debt.

Medicare owns another $294 billion.

Financial institutions own $3.4 trillion.

That’s a total of about $6.5 trillion and about one-sixth of the national debt. This is an even larger amount than all the foreign holders combined and makes YOU AND I the largest holders of US national debt.

Whether you like it or not, your money is exposed to the national debt and you are a holder of the US national debt in one form or another.

Nobody knows exactly when, but at some point, this whole debt bubble is going to burst.

This economic disaster will be a government default on its debt, and based on other government defaults throughout history, the situation won’t be pretty.

So, congratulations, you’re on the hook for this massive, unsustainable debt. You’re left holding the bag. You and your family are the ones who will fight for a chair when the music stops.

Do we realistically have a chance at ever paying off our national debt?

The unfortunate and short answer is…, No.

In fact, it’s MATHEMATICALLY impossible for the US to pay off its national debt.

In other words, the government could COMPLETELY CUT FUNDING for these 14 departments:

Department of State

Department of the Treasury

Department of Justice

Department of the Interior

Department of Agriculture

Department of Commerce

Department of Labor

Department of Health and Human Services

Department of Housing and Urban Development

Department of Transportation

Department of Energy

Department of Education

Department of Veterans Affairs

Department of Homeland Security

… And the government’s annual budget would still be in the red.

It’s all about the entitlement programs (programs where we get money back from our government), which account for about 60% of our annual budget.

Entitlement programs are used by politicians to “buy” votes by convincing us how compassionate they are as they dole out our own money (and our own future debt) back to us, as if they were digging into their own wallet or purse.

And now we have liberal politicians promoting the “Green New Deal,” which would make our current debt look like pocket change!

I really don’t want to scare you…, but you should be scared.

You should be very scared.

You should be scared enough to make sure you vote next time for a congressional representative, a senator or a president who is courageous enough to do what is right for our country as opposed to selling us all down the river for their own political gain.

NOTE: If you’re not already “following” me and you liked my blog(s) today, please scroll down to the very bottom of this page and click the “Follow” button. That’ll keep you up to date on all of my latest posts.

Thank you, MrEricksonRules.

March 20, 2019 0

Crisis? What crisis?

The democrats are always crying that “this” is a crisis and “that” is a crisis. But when they are asked to acknowledge and deal with a real crisis they choose to take the political low road, stick their heads in the sand, and not only pretend like there is no crisis, but denounce those who call a situation for what it is and attempt to do something about it.

Even though the democrats chose to ignore her last report and actually walk out of her presentation, The Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, was back again and issued a dire assessment of the migration crisis on the southern border, telling a House committee that illegal immigration is “spiraling out of control” and predicting that crisis will “get even worse” in the coming months.

According to Adam Shaw of Fox News, “The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) is warning that the Border Patrol is at its ‘breaking point’ as apprehensions skyrocket. Children and families now make up more than half of those in custody on the southern border, according to Customs and Border Patrol.”

“Secretary Nielsen also said in a startling revelation that, ‘Customs and Border Protection is on track to apprehend almost 1 million illegal immigrants at the border this year.’”

‘“In February, we saw a 30 percent jump over the previous month, with agents apprehending or encountering nearly 75,000 aliens,’ Nielsen told the House Committee on Homeland Security. ‘This is an 80 percent increase over the same time last year. And I can report today that CBP is forecasting the problem will get even worse this spring as the weather warms up.’”

‘“We want to strengthen legal immigration and welcome more individuals through a merit-based system that enhances our economic vitality and the vibrancy of our diverse nation. We also will continue to uphold our humanitarian ideals,’ she said. ‘But illegal immigration is simply spiraling out of control and threatening public safety and national security.’”

Shaw adds that, “Nielsen’s testimony came a day after the Trump administration released figures showing that more than 2,000 migrants are apprehended each day, a total of 268,000 since the beginning of the fiscal year. DHS reports that the Border Patrol is apprehending illegal immigrants at the highest rate since 2007.”

And remember…, we’re only talking about those we caught. How many illegal immigrants are coming across that we don’t even know about?

Two times as many?

Three times as many?

Five times as many?

Ten times as many?

Think about it.

How many people who are driving drunk actually get caught?

How many people who speed actually get ticketed?

See what I mean?

‘“We face a crisis, a real, serious, and sustained crisis at our borders. We have tens of thousands of illegal aliens arriving at our doorstep every month. We have drugs, criminals, and violence spilling into our country every week,’ she said.”

“Nielsen predicted disaster if migrant flows escalate: ‘Our capacity is already severely strained, but these increases will overwhelm the system entirely.’”

‘“This is not a ‘manufactured’ crisis. This is truly an emergency,’ she said.”

The Border Patrol has reported a 300 percent spike in illegal crossings at the border, but the media is opting to turn a blind eye, since it just doesn’t represent the narrative they want to present…, that there is no emergency at the southern border, in the attempt to discredit President Trump and his determination that there is a national crisis on our southern border.

“Trump’s declaration would give him access to about $3.6 billion for projects on the border, but the move has seen fierce opposition from Democrats and some Republicans, several of whom are expected to support a congressional rebuke of the emergency declaration, which could, in turn, prompt Trump’s first-ever veto. The House has already passed the measure.”

“Meanwhile, in prepared testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said in testimony that the initial investments in Trump’s wall project were being put ‘to good use’ and barriers in key areas have ‘made an immediate impact’ in stopping illegal immigration in hot spots.”

But Nielsen’s comments seemed likely to be brushed off by Democrats…, again. Before Secretary Nielsen even spoke, Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, a democrat from Mississippi, criticized Trump’s “non-existent emergency” at the border, as he parroted the standard democrat talking points while choosing to ignore reality.

Our democrat/socialist friends always like to point to Denmark, Finland, and Sweden as examples of how “good socialistic” countries handle these types of issues. So let’s take a look at how these countries are dealing with the problem of illegal immigration.

Let’s start with Denmark.

Christopher Brito of CBS News reports that, “The Danish government has come up with a plan to send dozens of rejected migrants to a remote island that currently houses a research center conducting tests on diseased animals.”

Hmmm. Well that sounds interesting. I’m skeptical as to whether anybody in the U.S. Congress would support these actions, however.

“Denmark’s government reached an agreement under its new finance bill for 2019 to decontaminate Lindholm Island, located around two miles from the nearest shore, and then use it hold as many as 100 people by 2021, according to a government website. Among the migrants who could be sent to the island are criminals, rejected asylum seekers and others who can’t return to their home country ‘due to the risk of ill-treatment.’”

“100 people by 2021!?” The U.S. probably deals with 100 illegal immigrants on an hourly basis.

‘“If you are unwanted in Danish society, you should not be a nuisance to ordinary Danes,’ Denmark’s immigration minister Inger Støjberg wrote on Facebook. ‘“They are undesirable in Denmark, and they must feel it.’”

“It’s not the first time Denmark has taken controversial actions aimed toward migrants amid a wave of populism throughout Europe. In August, the nation banned garments covering the face, including traditional Islamic veils such as the niqab or burqa.”

Obviously we can’t model our handling of illegal immigrants on Denmark’s system.

How about Finland?

According to Virginia Hale of Breitbart News, “Police forces across Finland are carrying out a search for illegal immigrants in a six-day crackdown on aliens living in the country without permission, local media reported.”

“In the period between March 12 and 18, officers will be carrying out identity checks in public places such as restaurants and shopping centers where they suspect illegal immigrants are at large based on intelligence held by police forces in advance.”

Ha! I know this definitely would fly in the good ole’ USA!

And the democrats are complaining about our own ICE agents in the United States.

“In practice, this means that when a person who is being checked turns out to be foreign, officers will check their immigration status and relevant papers,” said Finnish police chief Mia Poutanen.”

Around 3,000 illegal immigrants are caught each year in Finland as a result of targeted initiatives lasting several days like the one taking place this week.”

Wow…, 3,000?! That many? In a year?

In the U.S. we are dealing with that many illegal immigrants per day on a slow day!

Ok…, how about Sweden? Surely Sweden can show us the way.

According to Johan Ahlander and Mansoor Yosufzai for “Reuters,” “Sweden has intensified its crackdown on illegal immigrants after a failed asylum-seeker killed five people in Stockholm, but the move has raised concerns that more migrants will be driven underground to join a shadowy underclass.”

“In the past months, police have staged wider sweeps on workplaces to check papers, netting undocumented workers, sending a warning to employers and sparking heated debate in a nation that has been traditionally tolerant to migrants.”

“Tough measures against immigrants go against the grain for many in Sweden, a country of 10 million (about the population of North Carolina) which once called itself “a humanitarian superpower” that generously welcomed migrants fleeing conflict in the Middle East and Africa.”

“But attitudes appear to be changing and a 2017 study by Gothenburg University showed 52 percent favored taking fewer refugees into the country with 24 percent opposed. Two years ago 40 percent backed reducing refugee numbers with 37 opposed.”

“The Social Democrats, the Sweden’s biggest party in every election since 1917 and leader of the governing coalition, has been forced to balance its traditional left-wing credentials with the need to enforce immigration laws.”

“The government never discloses how many are held in detention centers, saying there are about 360 beds and deportees are normally repatriated within three weeks. The government has told the migration agency to add another 100 beds.”

Ohhh the pain! 360 beds! Oh my God.

Please note that the United States operates with over 40,000 detention center beds, and President Trump has asked for those levels to be increased to 52,000 beds!

“In 2016, police made about 1,100 unannounced workplace checks, almost three times more than in 2015, and caught 232 illegal immigrants.”

I believe we caught about that many illegal immigrants in one hour last year when we raided one company!

So not even Sweden provides us with a good immigration option.

The truth is, compared to any time in our past and compared to any other country in the world, the situation on our southern border with Mexico IS A NATIONAL EMERGENCY regarding illegal immigration, illegal drug trafficking, and human trafficking. Anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is just a disingenuous liar, plain and simple.

Thank you, MrEricksonRules.

March 7, 2019 1

President Trump has officially declared the US-Mexico border security crisis a national emergency. Is it?

“We’re going to confront the national security crisis on our southern border…, one way or the other. We have to do it,” President Trump said in the Rose Garden.

Speaker Pelosi has directly contradicted President Trump by claiming, “There is no crisis on our southern border,” and that, “President Trump has manufactured this crisis.”

Ok…, well…, let’s look at the facts. Let’s look at the numbers.

According to “Investor’s Business Daily:”

“[Regarding] illegal immigration: Democrats and the mainstream press accuse President Donald Trump of manufacturing a crisis at the border. The numbers tell another story.”

“NPR’s ‘fact check,’ like countless others, dismissed [President] Trump’s claim as false because ‘illegal border crossings in the most recent fiscal year (ending in September 2018) were actually lower than in either 2016 or 2014.”

“What they aren’t telling you is border patrol agents apprehended more than 100,000 people trying to enter the country illegally in just October and November of last year. Or that that number is way up from the same two months the year before.”

“Nor do they mention that last year, the border patrol apprehended more than half a million people trying to get into the country illegally. And that number, too, is up from the year before.”

“Trump’s critics certainly don’t bother to mention that those figures only count illegals the border patrol caught. It does not count the ones who eluded border patrol agents and got into the country.”

The Department of Homeland Security claims that about 20% of illegal border crossers make it into the country. Other studies, however, say border agents fail to apprehend as many as 50% of illegal crossers.

Is that not a crisis at the border?

Wait…, there’s more.

“Pelosi and company also don’t bother to mention the fact that there are already between 12 million and 22 million illegals, depending on which study you use, in the country today already.”

I would venture to say there are probably even more that 22 million in the country.

Let’s put those numbers in perspective.

“At the high end, it means that the illegal population in the U.S. is larger than the entire population of countries like Syria, Chile, the Netherlands and Ecuador. Even if the number is just 12 million, that’s still more than the entire population of Sweden, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Ireland and New Zealand.

Isn’t having millions and millions in the country illegally, with thousands joining them every day, not a crisis at the border?

But wait…, there’s more.

“Critics also complain that Trump overstated the risk of illegal immigrants committing crimes. They all point to a report from the Cato Institute, a pro-immigration libertarian think tank. Cato did a statistical analysis of census data and concluded that incarceration rates for Hispanic illegals were slightly lower than those of the native-born.”

Oh goody!

“But the Center for Immigration Studies looked at federal crime statistics [as well]. It found that noncitizens accounted for more than 20% of federal convictions, even though they make up just 8.4% of the population.”

The state of Texas alone “Has been monitoring crimes committed by illegals. It reports that from 2011 to 2018, it booked 186,000 illegal aliens. Police charged them with a total of 292,000 crimes. Those included 539 murders, 32,000 assaults, 3,426 sexual assaults, and almost 3,000 weapons charges.”

Maybe we should talk to the victims of those 539 murders, 32,000 assaults, 3,426 sexual assaults (in Texas alone), and see if they think there is a crisis at our southern border.

And all of this does not even take into account the smuggling of illegal drugs. According to the “VeryWellmind” website, “The estimated cost of drug abuse in the United States, including illegal drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, is more than $820 billion a year and growing. Substance abuse in the U.S. costs society in increased healthcare costs, crime, and lost productivity.”

According to The National Institute on Drug abuse, “More than 70,200 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2017.”

Unquestionably, the overwhelming majority of dangerous illegal drugs pours through our southern border.

In 2018 alone, border agents seized 5,000 pounds of heroin, 60,000 pounds of cocaine, 80,000 pounds of meth, and 1,600 pounds of fentanyl. And that’s what they caught. How much made it over the border?

Maybe we should talk to the families of the “more than 70,200 Americans [who] died from drug overdoses in 2017,” all of those people who have had their lives ruined by illegal drugs, and all of their families, and see if they think there is a crisis at our southern border.

Then we have the whole issue of human trafficers, who smuggle women and children into our country for sex and as slaves.

So, after looking at the numbers, is there a national crisis at our southern border?

I believe the only answer we can responsibly give is “yes.”

Others, of course, put their politics before the safety of the American people.

“This is plainly a power grab by a disappointed President, who has gone outside the bounds of the law to try to get what he failed to achieve in the constitutional legislative process,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. “The President’s actions clearly violate the Congress’s exclusive power of the purse, which our Founders enshrined in the Constitution.”

They vowed Congress would “defend our constitutional authorities in the Congress, in the Courts, and in the public, using every remedy available.”

“The President’s declaration of a national emergency would be an abuse of his constitutional oath and an affront to the separation of powers. Congress has the exclusive power of the purse, and the Constitution specifically prohibits the President from spending money that has not been appropriated. … This is a gross abuse of power that cannot be tolerated,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said in a statement.

First of all, Mr. Nadler, all of the money that President Trump is talking about using has been “appropriated.”

And on a related note…, when former President Obama sent over $150 BILLION (in cash by the way) to Iran as part of the failed Iran Nuclear Deal, where exactly was that money “appropriated?” Just sayin’.

So…, what gives President Trump “the right” to declare a national emergency anyway?

The National Emergencies Act (NEA) authorizes the president to declare a “national emergency.” This legislation was signed into law by President Gerald Ford on September 14, 1976

A declaration under NEA triggers emergency authorities contained in other federal statutes. Past NEA declarations have addressed, among other things, the imposition of export controls and limitations on transactions and property from specified nations. A national emergency was declared in 2001 after the September 11th terrorist attacks and has been renewed every year since then.

58 national emergencies have been declared since the National Emergency Act of 1976 was signed into law.

31 have been annually renewed and are currently still in effect.

Here’s a list of the presidents who declared national emergencies.

President Jimmy Carter:

Nov. 14, 1979 (still in effect): A national emergency in response to the Iran hostage crisis, which froze Iran’s assets in the United States.

President Ronald Reagan:

April 17, 1980: Further Prohibitions on Transactions with Iran, never terminated or continued;

Oct. 14, 1983: Continuation of Export Control Regulations, revoked in 1983.

March 30, 1984: Continuation of Export Control Regulations, revoked in 1985.

May 1, 1985: Prohibiting Trade and Certain Other Transactions Involving Nicaragua, revoked in 1990.

Sept. 9, 1985: Prohibiting Trade and Certain Other Transactions Involving South Africa (in response to apartheid), revoked 1991.

Jan. 17, 1986: Prohibiting Trade and Certain Transactions Involving Libya, revoked 2004.

April 8, 1988: Prohibiting Certain Transactions with Respect to Panama, revoked 1990.

President George H.W. Bush:

August 2, 1990: Blocking Iraqi Government Property and Prohibiting Transactions with Iraq, revoked 2004.

Sept. 30, 1990: Continuation of Export Control Regulations, revoked 1993.

Nov. 16, 1990: Chemical and Biological Weapons Proliferation, revoked 1994.

Oct. 4, 1991: Prohibiting Certain Transactions with Respect to Haiti, revoked 1994.

May 30, 1992: Blocking “Yugoslav Government” Property and Property of the Governments of Serbia and Montenegro, revoked 2003.

President Bill Clinton:

Sept. 26, 1993: Prohibiting Certain Transactions Involving UNITA (a political party in Angola), revoked 2003.

Sept. 30, 1993: Measures to Restrict the Participation by United States Persons in Weapons Proliferation Activities, revoked 1994.

June 30, 1994: Continuation of Export Control Regulations, revoked 1994.

Aug. 19, 1994: Continuation of Export Control Regulations, revoked 2001.

Sept. 29, 1994: Measures to Restrict the Participation by United States Persons in Weapons Proliferation Activities, revoked 1994.

Oct. 25, 1994: Blocking Property and Additional Measures with Respect to the Bosnian Serb- Controlled Areas of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, revoked 2003.

Nov. 14, 1994 (still in effect): Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, continued in November 2018.

Jan. 23, 1995 (still in effect): Prohibiting Transactions with Terrorists Who Threaten to Disrupt the Middle East Peace Process, continued in January 2018.

March 15, 1995 (still in effect): Prohibiting Certain Transactions with Respect to the Development of Iranian Petroleum Resources, continued in March 2018 and expanded in August 2018.

Oct. 21, 1995 (still in effect): Blocking Assets and Prohibiting Transactions with Significant Narcotics Traffickers, continued in October 2018.

March 1, 1996 (still in effect): Regulation of the Anchorage and Movement of Vessels with Respect to Cuba, modified by President Obama in 2016 and again by President Trump in February 2018.

May 22, 1997: Prohibiting New Investment in Burma, terminated in October 2016.

Nov. 3, 1997 (still in effect): Blocking Sudanese Government Property and Prohibiting Transactions with Sudan, continued in October 2018.

June 9, 1998: Blocking Property of the Governments of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), the Republic of Serbia, and the Republic of Montenegro, and Prohibiting New Investment in the Republic of Serbia in Response to the Situation in Kosovo, revoked in 2003.

July 4, 1999: Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions with the Taliban, revoked in 2002.

June 21, 2000: Blocking Property of the Government of the Russian Federation Relating to the Disposition of Highly Enriched Uranium Extracted from Nuclear Weapons, expired 2012.

Jan. 18, 2001: Blocking Property of the Government of the Russian Federation Relating to the Disposition of Highly Enriched Uranium Extracted from Nuclear Weapons, revoked in 2004.

President George W. Bush:

June 26, 2001 (still in effect): Blocking Property of Persons Who Threaten International Stabilization Efforts in the Western Balkans, continued in June 2018.

Aug. 17, 2001 (still in effect): Continuation of Export Control Regulations, continued August 2018.

Sept. 14, 2001 (still in effect): Declaration of National Emergency by Reason of Certain Terrorist Attacks, continued in September 2018.

Sept. 23, 2001 (still in effect): Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions with Persons who Commit, Threaten to Commit, or Support Terrorism, continued in September 2017.

March 6, 2003 (still in effect): Blocking Property of Persons Undermining Democratic Processes or Institutions in Zimbabwe, continued in March 2018.

May 22, 2003 (still in effect): Protecting the Development Fund for Iraq and Certain Other Property in Which Iraq has an Interest, continued in May 2018.

May 11, 2004 (still in effect): Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting the Export of Certain Goods to Syria, continued in May 2018.

July 22, 2004: Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting the Importation of Certain Goods from Liberia, revoked in November 2015.

Feb. 7, 2006: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in Côte d’Ivoire, terminated in September 2016.

June 16, 2006 (still in effect): Blocking Property of Certain Persons Undermining Democratic Processes or Institutions in Belarus, continued in June 2018.

Oct. 27, 2006 (still in effect): Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, continued in October 2018;

Aug. 1, 2007 (still in effect): Blocking Property of Persons Undermining the Sovereignty of Lebanon or Its Democratic Processes and Institutions, continued in July 2018.

June 26, 2008 (still in effect): Continuing Certain Restrictions with Respect to North Korea and North Korean Nationals, continued in October 2018.

President Barack Obama:

Oct. 23, 2009: Declaration of a National Emergency with Respect to the 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic, was never terminated or continued.

April 12, 2010 (still in effect): Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in Somalia, continued in 2018.

Feb. 25, 2011 (still in effect): Blocking Property and Prohibiting Certain Transactions Related to Libya, continued in February 2018.

July 24, 2011 (still in effect): Blocking Property of Transnational Criminal Organizations, continued in July 2018.

May 16, 2012 (still in effect): Blocking Property of Persons Threatening the Peace, Security, or Stability of Yemen, continued in May 2012.

June 25, 2012: Blocking Property of the Government of the Russian Federation Relating to the Disposition of Highly Enriched Uranium Extracted from Nuclear Weapons, revoked in 2015.

March 6, 2014 (still in effect): Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Ukraine, continued in March 2018.

April 3, 2014 (still in effect): Blocking Property of Certain Persons with Respect to South Sudan, continued in March 2018.

May 12, 2014 (still in effect): Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in the Central African Republic, continued in May 2018.

March 8, 2015 (still in effect): Blocking Property and Suspending Entry of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Venezuela, continued in March 2018.

April 1, 2015 (still in effect): Blocking the Property of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities, continued in March 2018.

Nov. 22, 2015 (still in effect): Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Burundi, continued in November 2018.

President Donald Trump:

Dec. 20, 2017: Blocking the Property of Persons Involved in Serious Human Rights Abuse or Corruption.

Sept. 12, 2018: Imposing Certain Sanctions in the Event of Foreign Interference in a United States Election.

Nov. 27, 2018: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Nicaragua.

Based on everything I’ve laid out here, President Trump’s declaring a national emergency IS NOT “plainly a power grab.”

This President HAS NOT “gone outside the bounds of the law.”

The President’s actions DO NOT “clearly violate the Congress’s exclusive power of the purse, which our Founders enshrined in the Constitution.”

The President’s declaration of a national emergency IS NOT “an abuse of his constitutional oath and an affront to the separation of powers.”

And, this IS NOT “a gross abuse of power that cannot be tolerated.”

NOTE: If you’re not already “following” me and you liked my blog(s) today, please scroll down to the bottom of this site and click the “Follow” button. That’ll keep you up to date on all of my latest posts.

Thank you, MrEricksonRules.

February 15, 2019 0

Go for it Mr. President!

With all due respect Mr. President, please all allow me to offer you my advice related to the current partial government shutdown.

If ending the government shutdown truly depends on either side compromising on building the wall, this shutdown could last for a very long time, which really isn’t a good thing in the end.

After discussing my intentions privately with the republican Senate and House leadership, I would tell Nancy Peloser and Upchuck Schumer that I was ready to reopen and fund the government, without any money for the wall at this point, and that if they sent legislation up to my office, I would sign it.

After my signing it, I’m sure Peloser and Upchuck would quickly proceed to hold a victory press conference to rub your nose in it.

But wait…, I’m coming to the good part!

The moment they began their victory speech, I would declare a state of emergency on our southern border and immediately begin construction of the wall. Thus upstaging their announcement, while robbing them of gloating over their victory, and ending the shutdown at the same time.

You might as well get it over with and declare the emergency, because the democrats are going to challenge you in court no matter what you do, so you might as well get the ball rolling. The sooner we get the process moving, the sooner it can get to The Supreme Court, at which time they will deem you are within your rights as The President to do what you have done, and we can get on with securing our border.

Every few weeks now we see another “caravan” has formed, with thousands of people, and is preparing to march through Mexico and challenge our southern border.

If having to deal with these invaders on a weekly basis isn’t a national emergency, what is?

And this is on top of the “normal” amount of drug smuggling and human trafficking.

I would not be overly concerned about setting precedent here. Was Nancy concerned about setting one with the State of the Union address?

And like it has been pointed out before, if these illegal immigrants were turning around and voting for republicans, the wall would be so big you’d be able to see it from space.

The democrats are going to do what they need to do going forward and so should we, and so should you.

Don’t do what a politician would do. Do what a patriot and a leader would do.

Go for it Mr. President!

BUILD THAT WALL! BUILD THAT WALL! BUILD THAT WALL!

Like you said, “One way or another.”

Thank you, MrEricksonRules.

January 25, 2019 0

Tag: national emergency

If we aren’t in the middle of an emergency, what would you call it?!

Our national debt is a national disgrace!

Crisis? What crisis?

President Trump has officially declared the US-Mexico border security crisis a national emergency. Is it?

Go for it Mr. President!

Subscribe to Blog via Email