Human nature always seems to make most people want something for very little, if any, effort. When someone comes along and makes promises that seem to be able to relieve pains or struggles to make ends meet or to gratify our desires for the comforts of life, we somehow don’t think of the cost in dollars—or in our liberty. We just want it and wanting it makes us feel good about the magical future. People who want to get people to believe this way and to vote accordingly are sometimes called Marxists.
Marxism is the belief that the accumulation of capital is evil and that capital and property is what makes the wealthy take advantage of those who have less than the so-called capitalists. The whole effort of Marxists, then, is to convince the “laborers” that they deserve their fair share of the wealth and that the force of government should be employed to make it happen, so that all are equally enjoying prosperity and the comforts of life. It is a gross deception.
Sadly, we have recent historical examples of how this Marxist philosophy works in real life. There’s the Marxist Vladimir Lenin taking over Russia, or the Marxist Mao Zedong taking over China, or the Marxist Fidel Castro taking over Cuba.
Cuba had been the sugar-producing capital of the hemisphere, with huge farms and mechanized equipment to be able to provide millions of Cubans with employment. Then, along came the Marxist Fidel Castro who promised each worker their own plot of ground to do as they wished. What a dream! When the government was overthrown and Castro was in charge, they began to distribute the land equally. But the people soon realized they could not afford to buy the equipment necessary to keep up the production as before, so they had to work their two acres of ground by hand to survive. They had been deceived. But it was too late. The Marxists, in whom they had great hope, were now in charge, and the only ones living comfortably were the Marxists – the Deceivers. Russia and China had already experienced the same Marxist fate.
Now comes 2024, and another candidate in Kamala Harris who sounds a lot like the three Marxists noted above. She wants to create an “Opportunity economy where everyone has a chance to compete and a chance to succeed.” She wants to lower costs for middle class Americans for everyday needs like health care, housing, and groceries. She wants to give homebuyers $25,000. Where is she going to get the money to pay for all this?
The answer is simple. She is going to confiscate the capital from those who have it through higher taxes on income, property, and yes, even unrealized gains! Apparently, it sounds so good to those who want to live by the sweat of another man’s brow. But, as history teaches us, it is only a deceptive dream. It is against the laws of nature. It will end in disaster for America. And by the way, just like the case of Lenin, Mao, and Castro, Kamala Harris has never built a business and created jobs for anyone outside of government. She has no idea of how to build a lasting economy. It is no wonder that she falls in line with the thinking of her Marxist father. She was trained that way. Her theme is “A New Way Forward.” Mao’s theme was a “Great Leap Forward.” It is gross deception.
America was redeemed from the tyranny of Europe by the shedding of blood. If America ever loses the fragile freedoms we now have by embracing the deceptive, failed system of Marxism, who knows what it will take to get it back?
President Joe Biden’s time in the White House is mercifully coming to an end. He is now officially a lame duck with six months to go.
Biden was a victim here of a corrupt Democratic machine that — along with a complicit media — thought they could pull off a grand election-year deceit, despite his failing cognitive abilities. The Democratic establishment and a compliant media convinced millions of primary voters that Biden was of sound mind and ready to serve four more years. This lust for power put America in danger.
How could they be so unpatriotic?
So, where will Biden stand in the history books? He was not a failed president because of his declining cognitive abilities. It was his policies that wrecked America.
It is hard to point to a single policy that he got right. On the economy, he was catastrophically bad.
The trillions of dollars of debt he rung up bought nothing. He sent inflation to the highest levels in almost forty years.
The average family lost $2,000 of income after inflation during his reign. More people died of COVID during his presidency than Trump’s — despite the availability of the vaccine.
Interest rates rose. Biden declared war on American energy. He put America back into the Paris Climate Accord—and the rest of the world went on using more fossil fuels than ever. By impeding U.S. oil and gas production and pipelines he played into the hands of our enemies — China and Iran.
Gas prices rose. Small business confidence sagged. Poverty rates rose.
Then there was the sheer incompetence. The bungled Afghanistan withdrawal was a national security disaster. The border became a broken dam with millions seeking to illegally enter the country. The government spent $7.5 billion on electric vehicle chargers and only a handful got built.
Biden gave away hundreds of billions of dollars for an illegal and immoral student loan forgiveness program. He put regulators in charge of key agencies even though — or because — they hate business. A majority of his appointees had no business experience. It showed.
When he departs the White House in the months ahead he will leave the nation poorer, weaker, more divided, more in debt, more vulnerable, and less respected than when he entered office.
This was a man who pledged to unite the country and did just the opposite. He deserves to go down in history as one of the five worst presidents of the 20th and 21st century.
Here is my list starting with the worst: 1) Woodrow Wilson; 2) Herbert Hoover: 3) Jimmy Carter; 4) Joe Biden; 5) Barack Obama.
Now the Democrats want to run Vice President Kamala Harris, who was on board with every Biden policy and helped oversee the worst border catastrophe in modern history.
Just when you thought things could not get any worse.
Stephen Moore is a contributor to The Daily Caller News Foundation, visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation, and a co-founder of the Committee to Unleash Prosperity.
The warning signs can no longer be ignored. America’s future as a world power is fading. The emerging alliance of Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea, spanning the spectrum of autocratic, expansionist ideologies, is poised to seriously threaten Western values and our way of life.
America’s response to a notably more dangerous world has been passive and thoughtless. In three decades, America has gone from the preeminent world power, with the promise of spreading freedom and democracy throughout the world, to a nation of deteriorating moral and strategic standing. We’ve backed ourselves into a dangerous corner.
Our enemies relentlessly undermine our interests and propagandize against us. One even leads public chants of “Death to America.” Russia wages a war of territorial aggression. China menaces our ally in the South China Sea. Hamas’ October 7 massacre was just one of several recent attacks by Iran-associated Islamic terrorist groups.
Weapons programs, especially those involving advanced technology like space weapons and biotech, are being rapidly developed by our enemies. Meanwhile, America’s relative deterrence capability has declined. Defense spending, inflation adjusted, has been reduced while military inductees are versed in the finer points of DEI.
Our Cold War presidents, especially Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Reagan, faced similar dangers to those that challenge us today. The Soviet Union was a powerful force that brutally subjugated Eastern Europe, worked to destabilize regimes around the globe, and seriously intended to establish world hegemony.
Our leaders responded then with certitude and conviction. Ronald Reagan’s approach was not appeasement, but confrontation with superior force. He warned against “blindly hoping for the best while the enemies of freedom grow stronger by the day.” He recognized that “war comes not when the forces of freedom are strong but when they are weak…then tyrants are tempted.”
Reagan made defeat of the “Evil Empire” the central goal of his presidency. He rebuilt the military and doggedly pursued missile defense systems even when he was ridiculed for supporting “Star Wars.” In the end, it was this missile defense strategy that confounded and broke the Soviets, as Mikhail Gorbachev later confided to Margaret Thatcher.
In contrast, American policy today projects peace through weakness. We foolishly pretend tyrants will be mollified if we don’t provoke them. President Obama not only failed to support ballistic missile defenses, he backed out of commitments to install missile defense systems in Eastern Europe, despite mounting Russian aggression.
Biden fecklessly waived sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline, paused military aid to Ukraine, and intentionally slow-walked critical supplies to our Israeli allies. We carefully dole out only enough support to our friends to stave off defeat but not enough to win.
The Cold War presidents were resolute about “stopping partisan politics at the water’s edge,” meaning that domestic political considerations should never impact foreign policy. Today, Biden proves his leftist bona fides by shutting down domestic energy production while treating our enemies more indulgently. Worry over youth protests and Michigan’s electoral support inspired his support of the war aims of Hamas and other Muslim jihadis.
This summer’s presidential debate demonstrated all you need to know about why America is garnering so much disrespect. With pressing problems all about spinning out of control, two candidates with presidential experience vied to be the one to lead us into the future. The result was a farce, a “debate” that was essentially incoherent babbling between two intellectually flabby old men.
One showed the classic hallmarks of senility and should never again be allowed near the nuclear football. The other was unable to construct a coherent argument, instead lapsing into exaggerations and meaningless superlatives. There was nothing resembling serious policy analysis. The two argued over golf scores instead.
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates writes that “at the very moment that events demand a strong coherent response from the United States, the country cannot provide one.” Americans must take our elections more seriously. We need to stop fixating on policy dead ends like climate change and identity politics.
Our short-term problem now is vulnerability to attack as a result of exhibiting weakness. Our long-term goal must be to select leaders better able to keep us strong and free.
Dr. Thomas Patterson, former Chairman of the Goldwater Institute, is a retired emergency physician. He served as an Arizona State senator for 10 years in the 1990s, and as Majority Leader from 93-96. He is the author of Arizona’s original charter schools bill.
A bill to help prepare the State of Arizona for international conflict and chaos may be close to the Governor’s Office for her decision.
In the recent Arizona Senate Republicans’ newsletter, Senator Frank Carroll discussed his bill, SB 1638, which would “require the Department of Emergency and Military Affairs (DEMA), to the extent possible, to: 1) identify any threats posed to Arizona in the event of a Pacific conflict; 2) complete a comprehensive risk assessment, including all vulnerabilities and recommendations for emergency response strategies for outlined areas; and 3) provide mitigation strategies and suggestions to limit or eliminate the risk posed to critical infrastructure and other assets as well as the safety and security of Arizona or the United States” – according to the purpose statement from the state Senate.
Carroll said, “A bipartisan bill to help ensure our state is prepared in the event of a future conflict overseas is making its way through the Legislature. I sponsored SB 1638 to require the Department of Emergency and Military Affairs (DEMA) to identify any threats posed to the state of Arizona in the event of a Pacific conflict. This bill will also require DEMA to provide a comprehensive risk assessment that includes vulnerabilities and recommendations for emergency response strategies in areas like critical infrastructure, state cybersecurity, public health, and safety and security.”
The west valley Republican lawmaker added, “China is strategically pursuing control over the Pacific, which includes our allies like Taiwan, in order to better position themselves to take down the United States. Their actions are a direct threat to our safety and freedoms as Americans, and we need to ensure we are informed and prepared to protect our state’s citizens. SB 1638 will head back to the Senate for a final vote before heading to the Governor for signature.”
After the bill was changed in the Arizona House of Representatives with a strike everything amendment, it overwhelmingly passed with a bipartisan majority – 45-15 on June 4. The Arizona Senate will have to concur with the new version of the bill before sending the legislation to the Governor’s Office.
Before the House resurrected this policy in SB 1638, Carroll’s proposal previously resided in SB 1338, which was defeated by the state Senate in March with a 12-16 result. Carroll pointed to an article in April as proof that the state needed to enact his bill, which had been transferred to SB 1638 at that point.
A bill that would safeguard Arizona lands from being owned by foreign adversaries is progressing through the state legislature along partisan lines.
Last week, the Arizona Senate passed SB 1403, which would “prohibit a foreign principal from a designated country from, directly or indirectly, purchasing, owning, acquiring by grant or devising or having any other interest in real property in Arizona” – according to the purpose from the chamber.
Sixteen Republicans voted for the legislation, compared to 12 Democrats (two members did not vote).
According to the bill, “designated country” is defined “as a country that is identified by the U.S. Director of National Intelligence as a country that poses a risk to the national security of the United States in each of the three most recent Annual Threat Assessments of the U.S. intelligence community.”
After the vote, the Arizona Senate Republican Caucus’ “X” account posted, “JUST IN – China, Russia, Iran & North Korea are enemy nations who only want to unleash harm on the United States and pose an incredible risk to our national security on a daily basis. Today, Senate Democrats voted ‘NO’ on legislation prohibiting these countries from owning land in Arizona. The Left’s reckless disregard for the safety of our state and our citizens continues to be on full display through every irresponsible vote undermining our efforts to protect our communities.”
🚨JUST IN- China, Russia, Iran & North Korea are enemy nations who only want to unleash harm on the United States and pose an incredible risk to our national security on a daily basis. Today, Senate Democrats voted ‘NO’ on legislation prohibiting these countries from owning land… pic.twitter.com/ToQLnU6taI
Senator Janae Shamp, the bill’s sponsor, added, “It was very disappointing to see only Republicans vote in support of a bill that our state’s military asked to protect our citizens, especially because the bill initially received bipartisan support in committee. SB 1403 prohibits organizations in a country determined to be a serious threat to the United States, from owning or leasing property in Arizona. I created this legislation because of real threats Luke Air Force Base has experienced. This base is home to the elite F-35 squadrons that train the world’s greatest fighter pilots around the clock to protect our nation. Arizona is also home to the Barry M. Goldwater range in Yuma, which is the third-largest land base in the US. Foreign adversaries have no business buying property near these bases, but this is happening, and it’s a threat to national security.”
If you're part of an org in a country that the DNI has determined to be a direct and serious threat to the U.S., then you have no business owning or renting land or any other property here in AZ! https://t.co/k4TJMefzw9
The second-year lawmaker opined on why members of the minority party in the chamber might have opposed her legislation, writing, “Why were Democrats so outraged over Saudis owning Arizona farmland, and yet they have no concern for these other real-time security threats? The answer: political theatre.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
