America is now drowning in $36 trillion in federal debt.
While past efforts to reform our nation’s finances have failed, Washington, D.C. will have a new sheriff in town after Jan. 20, leading a posse with plans to take the bold steps necessary to clean up our fiscal mess. To achieve different results compared to past efforts will require Republican unity.
Thankfully, President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to restore America’s economic stability has close allies in Congress. In an interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation, Republican Kentucky Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, outlined his new Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
“I don’t think there’s going to be any shortage of waste, fraud and abuse for that subcommittee to investigate,” Comer said.
Comer said DOGE will find healthcare savings, through reducing Medicare fraud and reforming areas like pharmaceutical patents and pharmacy benefit managers.
“One of the things I would encourage those to do — in this administration and Pam Bondi — we need to encourage our U.S. attorneys to focus more on Medicare and Medicaid fraud,” Comer said. “It’s not a priority for a lot of jurisdictions, and that’s something that needs to be a priority.”
Comer said Congress will adopt DOGE cuts through a legislative process known as “reconciliation” that doesn’t require a 60-vote threshold in the Senate.
“You’ve got to do it on reconciliation, because you’ll never get 60 votes,” Comer said. “Democrats don’t want to cut anything, right? Nothing.”
Comer’s DOGE bears a similar name to Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which will be run by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Trump’s DOGE has set its own deadline at July 4, 2026 (America’s 150th birthday). Comer said he plans to keep his DOGE subcommittee throughout the entire 119th Congress, which ends in January 2027.
Ramaswamy told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that DOGE is “the greatest effort to downsize government in our lifetime” and that, “We expect certain agencies to be deleted outright.”
Comer said the Department of Education is a prime example of a duplicative federal bureaucracy that has outlived its usefulness.
He said it is duplicative because each state has its own Education Department. Comer said it’s better to cut out the middleman and send federal education funding directly to the states in the form of block grants. Federal student loans can be administered by the Treasury Department.
Comer said he would love to bring Democrats on board, but he is no Pollyanna.
“I have yet to meet a Democrat in Congress that’s concerned about $36 trillion debt, that’s concerned about Social Security running out of money,” Comer said. “There may be one, but I haven’t met them or they’re very secretive on their opinions.”
This can’t wait any longer.
Our debt-to-GDP ratio, e.g. the size of our debt compared to our productive economy, was less than 31 percent in 1980, growing to nearly 57 percent by 2000 and mushrooming to 120 percent today, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. This is unsustainable and will bankrupt America’s future.
Conservatives have a golden opportunity to create a generational shift in America’s fiscal future. The only way these massive spending reforms will take place is if Republicans remain unified.
During Trump’s “off-season,” he garnered a fairly successful track record in primarying squishier Republicans who would be far less likely to use the political muscle we need to stop our fiscal drift. Comer is confident that Trump’s cost-saving agenda will pass, thanks to GOP unity.
“Obviously, I can only speak for the House,” Comer said. “We can get, I think, just about everything they want, passed out of the House.”
We’ve become awash in feckless spending, unmoored by excessive COVID-19 stimulus packages (riddled with fraud), followed by more in Green New Deal scams and pet project giveaways.
Trump and congressional Republicans earned a powerful mandate to rein in government spending, which will also lower inflation. It’s what the American people desire and deserve.
Last week, the newly elected Scottsdale City Council voted to repeal the city’s sustainability plan, a controversial measure championed by former Mayor David Ortega.
A statement emailed by Councilman and Vice Mayor Barry Graham ahead of the council’s vote outlined the serious concerns he and his colleagues had with the sustainability plan. He wrote that the plan “passed in the 11th hour by the lame-duck Council calls for city government to:
Reduce your household trash-output by 90% in 15 years.
Ration your electric usage—regardless of power source.
Ration water usage for single-family homes while giving businesses and apartments a pass.
Outsource local control to the agendas and politics of county government.
Redirect your tax dollars to speculative environmental programs.
Subject your home and business to monitoring and auditing.”
He added, “Because the prior council majority refused to compromise, the new council must consider whether to repeal and replace the plan with one that focuses on sustaining our economy, finances and quality-of-life.”
The vote during the first meeting of the newly constituted council, however, ended in newly elected Mayor Lisa Borowsky voting against the repeal and creation of a Sustainability Task Force to draft a replacement strategy, drawing immediate criticism. The vote nonetheless carried without Borowsky’s vote by a 4-3 margin, and the plan has been repealed.
The activist account on X, Scottsdale Voter, characterized the Sustainability Plan as the “Scottsdale ‘Green New Deal’ forced through by four 1-term lame-duck losers,” and condemned Borowsky following the vote. They wrote, “We’re in shock We worked hard to elect Mayor Borowsky[.] We knew Solange Whitehead is desperate to influence new councilors, just like when she ‘got ahold of Tom Durham.’”
They continued, “The Scottsdale ‘sustainability plan’ was one of disgraced Mayor Ortega’s proudest legacy pieces. It was a ‘green new deal’ shoved down Scottsdale’s throat. And Borowsky voted to protect it.”
The Scottsdale 'sustainability plan' was one of disgraced Mayor Ortega's proudest legacy pieces. It was a 'green new deal' shoved down Scottsdale's throat. And Borowsky voted to protect it
On her campaign website, Borowsky pitched as a Key Issue that she would “Develop a 20-year strategic plan focused on sustainability, economic diversity, and livability, engaging stakeholders in crafting a vision for the city’s future.”
According to the Resolution, the interim City Manager will work to establish a Community Sustainability Task Force that will examine the fiscal, population, and conservation needs of the city before making recommendations for a new plan.
The outgoing Scottsdale City Council has busied itself with passing certain left-leaning priorities.
The election of several new faces to the Scottsdale City Council ensured what effectively amounted to an overhaul of the status quo, which was a council in favor of more progressive policymaking such as sustainability plans aligning with those proposals put forth by the Green New Deal.
The incumbent council members lost their seats, several to more conservative challengers. Mayor Dave Ortega lost to Lisa Borowsky, though he beat her previously in 2020. Adam Kwasman and Maryann McAllen were newly elected, ousting incumbents Tammy Caputi and Tom Durham.
Kwasman said in a post on X that the outgoing “lame duck” council was focusing its last weeks in office on “slamming through” action items on apartments, appointments to citizens’ commissions, and a sustainability plan. Kwasman said the current council has exhibited “extremely regrettable” behavior.
“We will do all we can to reverse the damage done,” said Kwasman.
It is extremely regrettable to see what is likely to come out of the Scottsdale City Council over the next few weeks.
Rather than create a smooth transition with the newly-mandated council majority, the lame duck council is slamming through thousands of apartments, appointing…
Earlier this month, the council worked on the nominations for 14 committee vacancies across the Environmental Advisory Commission, Historic Preservation Commision, Library Board, McDowell Sonoran Preserve Commission, Neighborhood Advisory Commission, Paths and Trails Subcommittee, and Veterans Advisory Commission.
Scottsdale Vice Mayor Barry Graham claimed that the outgoing council majority and city staff were working to limit public opposition to the lineup of more progressive policymaking in the works.
Graham asserted that city staff had “misrepresented” one of Tuesday night’s contested agenda items as a discussion-only item — a rezoning and development agreement to establish headquarters and housing for the Scottsdale-based weapons defense company Axon — but then agendized it as an action item.
“[City staff] are warning that residents may be turned away at the door and sent across the street to an ‘overflow’ waiting area… a strategy that may favor the applicant,” said Graham.
Tonight, Scottsdale City Council Votes on Axon's Apartment Application.
City staff—who misrepresented the item as a "discussion" when it's agendized for "action"—are warning that residents may be turned away at the door and sent across the street to an "overflow" waiting area… pic.twitter.com/Wn1q172KG4
Last week, Graham addressed the outgoing councilmembers’ commitment to assigning their preferred committee members.
“Because commission terms last for years, I requested that my colleagues postpone their lame duck December appointments of commissioners by two weeks as a good-faith gesture toward the newly-elected council,” said Graham. “Even though you chose not to re-elect any of them, the outgoing members insist on pushing through their midnight appointments.”
Later this month, the council plans to review a sustainability plan to implement “extreme heat” strategies.
Although council seats are nonpartisan, most of the incoming council members have Republican backgrounds. McAllen was the only registered Democrat in the group and received backing from Democratic groups.
Kwasman formerly served as a Republican lawmaker in the Arizona House from 2013 to 2015, and ran for Congress in 2014.
Jan Dubauskas, who won through her primary victory in August, has been an active member in local Republican organizations, serving as a precinct committeewoman as well as Palo Verde Republican Women vice chair of community outreach.
Mayor-elect Borowsky has advocated for fiscal conservatism to complement and boost Scottsdale’s economy. Borowsky previously served on the council from 2009 to 2013, and ran for Congress as a Republican in 2012.
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Climate activists are crowdfunding bail to free those arrested for trespassing a Phoenix campaign field office for Donald Trump on Monday.
The activists were with the Sunrise Movement, a national organization dedicated to initiating a “climate revolution” by popularizing and implementing the Green New Deal. Among those arrested were out-of-state activists: 20-year-old Nate Scofield and 21-year-old Riya Kumar.
Scofield is a University of North Carolina student and substitute teacher for the Central Park School for Children in Durham, North Carolina. Scofield serves as a campus organizer and hub delegate with the Sunrise Movement.
Kumar is a University of Idaho student; she posted asking for bail money after her arrest.
“I was arrested at a Trump office because I am fighting for a just and liveable future for all beings,” said Kumar.
Must-watch video of a Trump staffer responding to young people sitting in at Trump's Phoenix campaign office to protest his loyalty to the oil billionaires destroying our planet.
An organizer for Monday’s event and founder of the Sunrise Movement’s Phoenix hub, 17-year-old Ashton Dolce, participates in FEMA’s Youth Preparedness Council and attends BASIS Scottsdale.
As of this report, nearly 200 individuals have contributed over $7,000 of the $10,000 goal. Simren Kaur, a California-based activist and farming nonprofit coordinator, organized the fundraiser.
“A Donald Trump Presidency would put us in danger. He will do the bidding of Big Oil, revoke protections for millions of immigrants, and take away access to abortion and gender-affirming care for people in red states,” read the GoFundMe page. “Trump is radical and extreme right-wing Republicans have detailed plans to strip our rights away. That is why these young activists took the sacrifice of risking arrest to expose Trump for who he is, and fight for a livable future for all of us.”
The Green New Deal, like its namesake instituted by former President Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression, seeks to completely overhaul American society through public programs and projects. Unlike the New Deal’s focus on job creation, however, the Green New Deal focuses on power: 100 percent replacement of current energy sources with “clean,” or “green,” renewables supported by “green” jobs and crackdowns on emissions.
Donors include Dhakshinamurthy Suppusamy, Hannah Amick, Mazie Drummond, Xiuhua Miao, Sage Clausen, Michael Koob, Dana Johnson, Evan Blue, Honora Wolfe, Sean Cohen, Danielle Mayahi, Daniel Warner, Arabella Garcia, Emilia Anders, Bryan Chu, Ellen Tucker, Yoram Tereleth, Emma Ramalingam, Rebekah MillerMacPhee, Josie Cohen-Rodriguez, Eva Cohen, Maelynn Oudjit, Mars Cantrell, MacKenzie Mae MacFarland, Rebecca Davis, Kai Uehara, Mary Collier, Aaryaman Singhal, Jenifer Miller, Keanu Arpels-Josiah, Lilian Montagne, Abigail McIver, Maddie Goldstein, Parker Abell, Brian Giacoppo, Lynn Handlin, Markus Ceniceros, Chloe Qin, Simon Aron, Dylan Mitlehner, Stacy Steinberg, Nicole Green, Sean Haskett, Ariela Lara, Pamela McInnes, Maia Cuddy, Logan Madden, Mayuri Nagpal, Richard Cho, Isabel Marlens, Violet Pearcy, Sarah Shahinpour, Lisa Hyman, Kiersten Hackman, Rose Cheyette, Celestina Garcia, Carla Diehl, Jessy Lloyd, Kaitlin White, Aum Davé, Stacy Miller, Sarah Borokowski, Olivia Campbell, Leontina Hormel, Ian Gentry, Mary King, Kailee Ford, Yeishka Montalvo, Christina King, Christian Keeve, Paola Sanchez, Katerina Leedy, George Bergan, Robert Accardo, Derek Miranda, Alexander Tinker, Patrick Harper, Leif Running, Jessica Barranco, Jacob W. Apenes, Julie Volpenhein, Lindsay Volpenhein, Luis Mirianda, Sarah Shahinpour, Caroline Lindy, Vianni Ledesma, Ashna Shah, Yesenia Garza, CJ Janssen, Caitlyn Carpenter, Tasia North, John Ramos, Avi Horwitz, Adina Gitomer, Audrey M., Hugo Aponte, Jeremy Liskar, Joseph Markus, Harita Iswara, Yong Zhou, Alisa Bennett, Jacob Glass, Indigo Lemke, Victoria Garcia, Genna Kieper, Eric Fishman, Adah Crandall, Jennifer Pierce, Mekala Kumar, Katherine Campion, Thomas Blackwell, Yara Levin, Terri Pickens, Aly Bean, Lillian Saperston, Ajit Rajbhandari, Michael Field, Abraham Layon, Jordan Reif, John Paul Mejia, Ian Sippel, Rosemary McInnes, Ryan Dickey, Laela Zaidi, Ling Xiong, Hannah Hayes, Ella Weber, Paul Campion, Adin Alem, Alyssa Harrison, Victoria Plant, Anton Cedergrund, Sawyer Pappas, Dylan Mitlehner, and Shiva Rajbhandari.
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A radical Democrat state representative is attempting to return to her middle-of-the-road legislative district for a new term in office.
State Representative Lorena Austin is running for reelection in Arizona Legislative District 9, which covers the city of Mesa. According to the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, the district is likely one of the most competitive in the state, with a 2.6% vote spread in the Commission’s nine focus elections. Democrats are slightly favored in the district, having won in five of those nine focus elections.
Despite her district being more moderate in its political makeup, Austin has demonstrated a propensity to become one of the most extreme leftist members of the Arizona Legislature on almost every issue.
In a struggling state and national economy, where many families are struggling to get by in life, keep their jobs, and save for their children’s futures, Austin showed no mercy with her votes. This year, she was one of a handful of members to vote against HCR 2002, which stated that the legislature recognizes, encourages, and continues to support Arizona’s beef producing farmers, ranchers, and families. Last year (2023), she voted no on SB 1131, which would have prohibited a county, city, or town from levying a tax on rental property.
Austin is also opposed to individual property rights, as her votes have indicated. In 2023, she was one of 14 members to vote against final passage of a bill prohibiting protestors from targeting people in their own homes by protesting on their residential property (SB 1023).
This latest legislative session (2024), Austin voted no on SB 1129, which would have allowed a property owner or the owners’ agent to request from law enforcement the immediate removal of a person who is unlawfully occupying a residential dwelling. She also opposed SB 1073, which would have established a new form of the existing offense of obstructing a highway or other public thoroughfare and classified this new form of the offense as a class 6 felony (which was introduced in response to protestors blocking traffic).
Austin’s legislative record extends, too, into bouts of radical socialism. In 2023, she co-sponsored HB 2610, which would have created a state-owned bank. Additionally, she co-sponsored HB 2653, which would have established that “restaurants and other food service establishments in this state may only serve water and disposable straws to customers on request.” Earlier this year, Austin voted no on HB 2629, which would have established November 7 of each year as Victims of Communism Day and required the State Board of Education to create a list of recommended resources for mandatory instruction on the topic in certain public school courses.
The Democrat lawmaker has refused to support solutions to help her state end the border crisis affecting almost every community in Arizona – not to mention elsewhere in the nation. In 2023, Austin co-sponsored HB 2604, which would have permitted the Arizona Department of Transportation to issue a driver’s license or nonoperating ID to a person without legal status in the United States. And in this most recent legislative session, she voted no on HB 2621, which would have deemed that the trafficking of fentanyl across Arizona’s border is a public health crisis and directed the Arizona Department of Health Services to do everything within its power to address the crisis. She also opposed SCR 1042, which proclaimed the legislature’s support for the people and government of the state of Texas in its efforts to secure our nation’s southern border.
Austin has an awful record in office on crimes against children. In 2023, she voted against SB 1028, which would have prohibited a person or business from engaging in an adult cabaret performance on public property or in a location where the performance could be viewed by a minor. She also voted no on SB 1583, which would have mandated that a level one sex offender who commits specified sexual offenses is required to register on the internet sex offender website if the offender was sentenced for a dangerous crime against children.
This most recent legislative session (2024), Austin continued her spree of opposing legislation that would have protected more Arizona children from horrific crimes committed against them. She voted no on SB 1236, which would have specified that any offender who was convicted of or adjudicated guilty except insane for sexual crimes against children, whether completed or preparatory, and was 18 years of age or older at the time of the offense, must be included on the internet sex offender website. She also opposed HB 2835, which would have established knowingly observing a nude minor for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct for a person’s sexual gratification as a form of criminal sexual exploitation of a minor. And Austin voted no on a ballot referral (SCR 1021), which would statutorily require an adult who is convicted of a class 2 felony for any child sex trafficking offense to be sentenced to natural life imprisonment.
As with many of her fellow Democrats running for the state legislature, Austin promotes endorsements from left-leaning organizations for her campaign for the Arizona House of Representatives, including Moms Demand Action, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, Save Our Schools Arizona, Progressive Turnout Project, HRC in Arizona, AEA Fund for Public Education, NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona, Stonewall Democrats of Arizona, Arizona Education Association, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Emily’s List, and Human Rights Campaign PAC.
There is one endorsement for Austin that appears to be absent from her website, from the Jane Fonda Climate PAC. Austin’s support from this PAC may be one of the most concerning for voters researching her record and determining which direction they want to see for their district. This PAC asserts that “major solutions are stopped cold: the Green New Deal, Build Back Better, clean energy investments, ending billions in tax subsidies to the fossil fuel industry – all because of politicians backed by Big Oil.”
The Green New Deal pushed by the Jane Fonda Climate PAC is the same championed by New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is one of the most progressive lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The district is currently represented by two Democrats in the state House of Representatives. Austin and her fellow Democrat incumbent, Seth Blattman, ran unopposed in the recent primary election. Austin received 10,353 votes, and Blattman obtained 8,741 votes. They will face off against Republicans Mary Ann Mendoza and Kylie Barber, who also ran unopposed in the primary election. Mendoza garnered 10,429 votes, and Barber received 10,136 votes.
November’s General Election will be the second time that Mendoza has been pitted against Austin and Blattman. In 2022, Austin and Blattman defeated Mendoza and her running mate, Kathy Pearce, to assume their offices for the 2023 Arizona legislative session.
Correction: A previous version of this article listed the incorrect vote totals for the candidates. The totals have now been updated with the latest results from the Arizona Secretary of State website.
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