Category: American Culture
Raul Grijalva: Good Friend of Communists
Raul Grijalva is a long-time Southern Arizona congressman running for re-election in November.
By Trevor Loudon, Contributing Writer, The Epoch Times
December 26, 2018
Long-time Communist Party USA ally Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) is to chair the critical House Committee on Natural Resources. This position will give Grijalva significant influence over key economic and environmental decisions.
In this position, he will be able to stall and otherwise influence legislation and create major uncertainty for potential infrastructure, natural resource, and energy investors.
Grijalva is so excited about his new post that he has even opted to resign from his influential position as co-chair of the far-left Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Allowing a man with Grijalva’s radical record to wield such influence could have disastrous implications for American jobs and economic growth.
The Early Years
Grijalva foreshadowed his legislative strategy in 2013 when he revealed to In These Times, a Democratic Socialists of America affiliated publication, that “I’m a Saul Alinsky guy,” referring to the “community organizer” who mentored Hillary Clinton and inspired Barack Obama.
But even the Marxist Alinsky wasn’t Grijalva’s most radical influence.
According to a 2009 Center for Immigration Studies memorandum, as a young activist in Tucson, Arizona, Grijalva became a leader in several Marxist-leaning groups including the Chicano Liberation Committee, which pressured the University of Arizona to implement affirmative action for Chicano staff and establish a Mexican-American Studies program.
Grijalva was also active in Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA), which agitated for the return of the “Chicano” areas of the U.S. Southwest to Mexico. The group’s motto was “Por la raza todo, fuera de la raza nada,” which translates to “For the race, everything; outside the race, nothing.”
Grijalva further joined the radical Raza Unida Party. After losing a school board race in 1972, Grijalva dropped some of his revolutionary posing and sought to involve himself in more “mainstream” Democratic Party politics.
In 1993, Grijalva, identified at that time as a member of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, wrote an anti-NAFTA article headlined “North America Needs ‘Fair’ Trade” for the Nov. 13 edition of the Communist Party USA’s newspaper People’s Weekly World (which has since changed its name to People’s World).
Through the 1990s, Grijalva used his Pima County position to assist Communist Party USA-affiliated organizations, such as the Southern Arizona People’s Law Center and the Tucson Tenants Union.
By the early 2000s, Grijalva was ready for the big time, and the Communist Party USA was eager to help.
Communist Party Assistance
According to Tucson Communist Party USA leader Steve Valencia, his mentor—the late Arizona Communist Party USA chair Lorenzo Torrez—was a pioneer in the “struggle” for Mexican-American political representation.
Valencia told People’s World newspaper in 2012, “I always say: Before [Communist Party USA-aligned Democratic Rep.] Ed Pastor and Raul Grijalva, there was Lorenzo Torrez.”
The article continues: “Pastor and Grijalva are Arizona’s first two Mexican Americans [sic] members of the U.S. Congress. But Torrez ran for Congress before they ran, and also boldly ran against Republican Senator Barry Goldwater.
“‘Lorenzo told us it is time for these majority Latino districts to be represented by a Mexican American,’ said Valencia. ‘He wanted voters to see a Latino name on the ballot.’
“When Pastor declared his candidacy, Torrez rallied the Tucson CP [Communist Party] club to join in the effort. Pastor’s victory in 1991 set the stage for Grijalva’s election in 2002.”
On Sept. 21, 2002, the People’s World published an article headlined “People Gain in Arizona Primaries” by local Communist Party leader Joe Bernick. It dealt mainly with Grijalva’s victory in the recent Democratic Party primary:
“The tireless efforts of hundreds of grassroots volunteers dealt a blow to the corporate establishment here and their attempt to dominate Southern Arizona politics in the Sept. 10 primary election.
“Long-time progressive Raul Grijalva routed seven other candidates to win the Democratic nomination for CD-7, one of Arizona’s two new Congressional seats. …
“As a Pima County Supervisor and Tucson School Board member Grijalva consistently fought for working people’s interests.
“The Grijalva campaign was a textbook example of how to conduct a people’s campaign, beginning with its name: ‘A whole lot of people for Grijalva.’ Hundreds of people came out seven days a week, sometimes twice on Saturday, to wear out tons of shoe leather.
“Grijalva thanked labor for its key support and for ‘putting the union label on me.’ He promised the Southern Arizona Central Labor Council, at its Sept. 12 meeting, to become ‘an extension of the voice of labor in the U.S. Congress.’”
At a meeting of the National Board of the Communist Party USA in South Chicago, on the last weekend of January 2003, an Arizona activist boasted, “Using street heat tactics, all of labor worked to back one candidate Raul Grijalva in Tucson … And we won!”
Tucson Communist Party USA supporter Susan Thorpe confirmed this narrative in an article covering the 2002 Grijalva campaign in an article in People’s World on Nov. 7, 2003, titled “Arizona: Grassroots Can Beat Big Bucks”:
“Nevertheless, here in Tucson, we are gearing up for local elections in 2003 and the presidential election ahead in 2004 by using the same tactics we did in 2002 to get Raul Grijalva elected to Congress. …
“Congressman Raul Grijalva is proving to be a wonderful voice for the people of Arizona. And our movement and those important connections made during his campaign are still alive in Tucson.”
In Congress, Grijalva worked to help the Communist Party USA where he could.
Returning the Favor
According to a 2005 statement by Latinos for Peace (an anti-Iraq War front for the Communist Party USA) published in the Communist Party USA theoretical journal Political Affairs on Oct. 4, 2005: “On Monday September 26 we participated in the peace movement lobby day at the capitol. We met with Rep Raul Grijalva who said he would work to help build our campaign.”
On July 13, 2006, Communist Party USA member Carolyn Trowbridge addressed 14 fellow black-shrouded members of the “peace” group “Raging Grannies” along with 40 supporters. Trowbridge’s speech was followed by “a reading of an antiwar speech” by Grijalva. They then marched to the late Sen. John McCain’s office to “deliver a petition on Iraq demanding an immediate end to the U.S. occupation, the closing of all U.S. military bases and the removal all U.S. mercenaries and corporate involvement,” according to People’s World.
Later that same year, on Nov. 7, Arizona voters became the first in the nation to reject a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. The campaign was led by activist group Arizona Together. Both Arizona state Rep. Kyrsten Sinema and Congressman Grijalva assisted the campaign.
According to Arizona Communist Party leader and Arizona Together activist Joe Bernick, who wrote it up in the People’s World:
“Why Arizona? How come voters in more liberal states have voted for similar hateful laws while conservative Arizona voted no?
“So how did we do it? The answer is: educating, organizing and mobilizing.
“As soon as proponents started circulating petitions to put 107 on the ballot, opponents brought out their own clipboards, signing up thousands of volunteers. Arizona Together emerged as the campaign committee, chaired by progressive state Rep. Kyrsten Sinema.
“Congressman Raul Grijalva appeared on radio ads calling Prop. 107 an attack on working families. The Grijalva campaign worked closely with Arizona Together, using its literature in their extensive door-to-door canvassing.”
Sinema, now the newly elected U.S. senator from Arizona, also has close ties to the Communist Party USA.
On March 29, 2003, Grijalva sponsored and addressed the Third Annual Cesar Chavez Day March and Rally for Peace.
The rally was organized by Tucson Communist Party member and high school teacher Ray Siqueiros, one of the most militant teachers in Tucson. In 2006, Siqueiros was involved in organizing a mass walk-out by Tucson high school students protesting proposed legislation that would classify illegal immigrants as felons. Some of the students waved Mexican flags.
In June 2015, Siqueiros received a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from Grijalva for “valuable service to the community.”
Border Security
In September 2015, the late Sen. John McCain from Arizona introduced legislation (S750) to exempt certain projects from environmental protection laws, in order to better enhance border security.
S750, if passed, “would exclude new surveillance installations and other border patrol activities from environmental protection laws. The bill would apply to federal lands within 100 miles of the U.S.–Mexico border in Arizona and parts of California,” according to People’s World.
Grijalva was apparently willing to work with the Communist Party USA to stop legislation designed to keep America’s borders secure.
Then the senior Democrat in the House’s Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulations, Grijalva fought back against the proposal.
Grijalva spoke at a forum co-sponsored by the Communist Party USA-led Arizona Peace Council, and the Communist Party USA-run Salt of the Earth Labor College, saying he was “confident regarding the ability to defeat S750 provided people stay aware of it and speak out against it.”
According to People’s World, Grijalva said in part: “It’s a two pronged agenda. … Part of the agenda … [is] to end any legislative hope … that we would end up with something semi-rational in terms of comprehensive immigration reform because this bill is about enforcement only—only enforcement. …
“The other agenda is about attacking bedrock environmental laws that have been on the books for 50, 40, 45 years. … It’s both about immigration and the environment and citizen accountability and participation in decision making.”
As today’s Communist Party USA is loyal to Cuba, China, and Venezuela, Grijalva was effectively attempting to aid and abet enemies of the Republic.
The Communist Party USA is the sworn enemy of American capitalism.
Houston Communist Party leader Bernard Sampson wrote only this past September: “We aren’t like other parties. We are a party dedicated to the overthrow of the capitalist class in this country.”
Yet Grijalva has worked with these people for more than 30 years. He is clearly fully on board with the Communist Party USA agenda.
Imagine the damage Grijalva will be able to do to America’s economy, environment, and national security as Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources. Communist Party USA leaders must be rubbing their hands in revolutionary glee.
Americans likely do not realize that elected officials such as Grijalva are not required to undergo any form of background security check before serving on sensitive committees. If they were, Grijalva would certainly fail.
America’s enemies are aware of this loophole and are using it to their advantage.
Trevor Loudon is an author, filmmaker and public speaker from New Zealand. For more than 30 years, he has researched radical left, Marxist, and terrorist movements and their covert influence on mainstream politics.
Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch
President Trump’s Unparalleled Achievements
- Almost 4 million jobs created since election.
- More Americans are now employed than ever recorded before in our history.
- We have created more than 400,000 manufacturing jobs since my election.
- Manufacturing jobs growing at the fastest rate in more than THREE DECADES.
- Economic growth last quarter hit 4.2 percent.
- New unemployment claims recently hit a 49-year low.
- Median household income has hit highest level ever recorded.
- African-American unemployment has recently achieved the lowest rate ever recorded.
- Hispanic-American unemployment is at the lowest rate ever recorded.
- Asian-American unemployment recently achieved the lowest rate ever recorded.
- Women’s unemployment recently reached the lowest rate in 65 years.
- Youth unemployment has recently hit the lowest rate in nearly half a century.
- Lowest unemployment rate ever recorded for Americans without a high school diploma.
- Under my Administration, veterans’ unemployment recently reached its lowest rate in nearly 20 years.
- Almost 3.9 million Americans have been lifted off food stamps since the election.
- The Pledge to America’s Workers has resulted in employers committing to train more than 4 million Americans. We are committed to VOCATIONAL education.
- 95 percent of U.S. manufacturers are optimistic about the future—the highest ever.
- Retail sales surged last month, up another 6 percent over last year.
- Signed the biggest package of tax cuts and reforms in history. After tax cuts, over $300 billion poured back in to the U.S. in the first quarter alone.
- As a result of our tax bill, small businesses will have the lowest top marginal tax rate in more than 80 years.
- Helped win U.S. bid for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
- Helped win U.S.-Mexico-Canada’s united bid for 2026 World Cup.
- Opened ANWR and approved Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines.
- Record number of regulations eliminated.
- Enacted regulatory relief for community banks and credit unions.
- Obamacare individual mandate penalty GONE.
- My Administration is providing more affordable healthcare options for Americans through association health plans and short-term duration plans.
- Last month, the FDA approved more affordable generic drugs than ever before in history. And thanks to our efforts, many drug companies are freezing or reversing planned price increases.
- We reformed the Medicare program to stop hospitals from overcharging low-income seniors on their drugs—saving seniors hundreds of millions of dollars this year alone.
- Signed Right-To-Try legislation.
- Secured $6 billion in NEW funding to fight the opioid epidemic.
- We have reduced high-dose opioid prescriptions by 16 percent during my first year in office.
- Signed VA Choice Act and VA Accountability Act, expanded VA telehealth services, walk-in-clinics, and same-day urgent primary and mental health care.
- Increased our coal exports by 60 percent; U.S. oil production recently reached all-time high.
- United States is a net natural gas exporter for the first time since 1957.
- Withdrew the United States from the job-killing Paris Climate Accord.
- Cancelled the illegal, anti-coal, so-called Clean Power Plan.
- Secured record $700 billion in military funding; $716 billion next year.
- NATO allies are spending $69 billion more on defense since 2016.
- Process has begun to make the Space Force the 6th branch of the Armed Forces.
- Confirmed more circuit court judges than any other new administration.
- Confirmed Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
- Withdrew from the horrible, one-sided Iran Deal.
- Moved U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.
- Protecting Americans from terrorists with the Travel Ban, upheld by Supreme Court.
- Issued Executive Order to keep open Guantanamo Bay.
- Concluded a historic U.S.-Mexico Trade Deal to replace NAFTA. And negotiations with Canada are underway as we speak.
- Reached a breakthrough agreement with the E.U. to increase U.S. exports.
- Imposed tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum to protect our national security.
- Imposed tariffs on China in response to China’s forced technology transfer, intellectual property theft, and their chronically abusive trade practices.
- Net exports are on track to increase by $59 billion this year.
- Improved vetting and screening for refugees, and switched focus to overseas resettlement.
- We have begun BUILDING THE WALL. Republicans want STRONG BORDERS and NO CRIME. Democrats want OPEN BORDERS which equals MASSIVE CRIME, including drug smuggling and human trafficking.
Unprecedented Judicial Nominations
In his first three years in office, Trump had successfully appointed a record 50 judges to the U.S. circuit courts of appeals. For comparison purposes, by the same point in their first terms, President Obama had appointed just 19 and President Bush 26.
With the cooperation of the Republican Senate, Trump also pushed the judges through far faster than his predecessors. After three years in office, Trump had already set a modern record for the appointment of appeals court judges.
Trump’s judicial juggernaut could not have succeeded without the cooperation of a Republican Senate majority. Mitch McConnell not only held open the Scalia seat in Obama’s last year and eliminated the Senate filibuster for Supreme Court nominees, but he also made the confirmation of appellate judges a Senate priority.
By the end of three years in office, Trump and McConnell had confirmed enough federal appeals judges to ensure that Republican presidents had appointed a bare majority of all federal appeals judges in the nation.
The 11th Circuit has 12 judges, seven of whom were appointed by Republican presidents after Lagoa’s confirmation on Wednesday. That count now includes five Trump appointees.
“This success – along with the record number of federal appellate judges President Trump has appointed to date – is a testament to the tangible impact the president has had in reshaping the federal judiciary with constitutionalist judges who are committed to the rule of law,” Carrie Severino, the chief counsel and policy director at the conservative Judicial Crisis Network, said in a tweet about Lagoa’s confirmation.
Trump has now named 10 judges to the 9th Circuit — more than one-third of its active judges — compared with seven appointed by President Obama over eight years.
“Trump has effectively flipped the circuit,” said 9th Circuit Judge Milan D. Smith Jr., an appointee of President George W. Bush.
If Trump were to win reelection, he would probably succeed in flipping most, if not all, appellate courts to conservative control.
Trump’s success with judicial appointments came about through the normal constitutional process. He may have chosen younger, more conservative judges. But here he followed closely the example set by President Reagan.
Reagan and Trump have been the two greatest American presidents in the past century-plus.
Las Vegas Killer’s Mystery Solved
Las Vegas police and the media have searched in vain for some tangible motive behind mass murderer Stephen Paddock’s monstrous shooting spree. They can’t find a smoking gun, a tie to Islamic terrorists or really much of anything else to explain what he did. Their motive trail has gone icily cold.
But they’ve overlooked the obvious.
Paddock was obviously under spiritual warfare and Satan won his soul.
The New Testament’s Book of Ephesians, Chapter 6, verse 12 explains it:
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Paddock succumbed to that dark world and lost the struggle. He was controlled by Satan’s demons. Anyone committing such a heinous act of violence is under their control.
Furthermore, his lady said that sometimes he wailed in his sleep. His nights may have been tortured by the demons possessing his soul and inspiring him to do evil.
Paddock’s life at the end was dominated by evil. Satan is the author of evil. And the only way to explain this horrible, murderous shooting rampage is by examining satanic evil. A dark world of evil spiritual forces is in play in this world and it is at the root of the vile acts of mortals.
Jesus was not immune to temptation from the evil one, and neither are we. But here’s what we can do about it:
Put on the whole armour of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. — Ephesians 6:11
Gov. Ducey Wants Arizona Out of the Ninth Circuit
By Cathi Herrod, President, Center for Arizona Policy
Today, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey issued a call for the U.S. Congress to establish another federal circuit court of appeals that removes Arizona from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
In his call, Gov. Ducey stated, “…due to its voluminous caseload and disproportionate size, the Ninth Circuit has an abysmal turnaround time of over 15 months for an average ruling… Arizonans deserve better than this from the people in power, and that includes a judicial process that is judicious in nature. It’s time that Congress takes overdue action to resolve this crisis in our courts.” Ducey further pointed out that the Ninth Circuit is consistently overturned with a 77 percent reversal rate.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich joined in stating: “The Ninth Circuit is overloaded and it’s bringing on new cases faster than it can resolve old ones. Reform in this area is long overdue.”
Read the full press release here as well as Governor Ducey’s letter to Congress here.
Action Needed:
- Urge your U.S. Senator and Congressman to make this much needed change!
- Forward this email to a friend! It is crucial that Arizona’s Congressional Delegation hear from the citizens in their state.
- Thank Governor Ducey! Send an email to the Governor to thank him for seeking this much needed change in our judicial process.
- Pray! Pray that Arizona’s U.S. Senators and Representatives will stand boldly and seek a judicious legal process for the citizens they represent.
The Arizona Conservative says: Bravo to the governor’s efforts! And to CAP for supporting this measure. They took the high road and didn’t say this … but we will say it: in 99.9 percent of the social issues cases going up to the Ninth Circuit, this controversial court will rule against conservatives. The deck is stacked in San Francisco, in favor of judicial activism. And it isn’t fair.
New Book Exposes Left-Stream Media’s Folly over HB1062
Less than two years ago, extremists on the far Left fringe and their media lemmings in Arizona and around the nation successfully waged a campaign of fear, deceit and distortion against a state religious freedom bill, HB 1062. They stampeded Gov. Jan Brewer into fearfully vetoing this harmless, but helpful, bill. Virtually every television station in Arizona bought the lies of homosexual activists … hook, line and sinker, and engaged in yellow journalism. Even a Phoenix sportscaster, Mike Jurecki, foolishly shot off his mouth about what the bill would not do, further spreading the Big Lie, the Big Narrative of the Left. We saw again how gullible, how ignorant and misinformed and how horribly misguided the left-stream media really is. And just how easily the left-stream media could be led by extreme leftists, without pretending to be fair or factual.
Outside of The Arizona Conservative, there were few in this state who really stood up to speak the truth to this manufactured “crisis.”
Now Ryan Anderson of The Heritage Foundation has addressed what happened here — in his book “Truth Overruled: The Future of Marriage and Religious Freedom.” He writes the following in Chapter 5: Religious Freedom: A Basic Human Right. We think this is well worth your read:
In February 2014, the State of Arizona considered a minor legislative clarification to its state RFRA, attracting incendiary media coverage. The New York Times editorialized that the Arizona legislation had passed “noxious measures to give businesses and individuals the broad right to deny services to same-sex couples in the name of protecting religious liberty.”
The Times got it wrong. The Arizona bill, an amendment to the stat’s 1999 RFRA protections, never even mentioned same-sex couples. In provided that the RFRA protections would extend to any “state action” and would apply to “any individual, association, partnership, corporation, church, religious assembly or institution or other business organization. In other words, the bill would have protected all citizens and the associations they form from undue burdens by the government on their religious liberty and from private lawsuits that would have the same effect.
Kirsten Powers jumped into the fray with a USA Today column misleadingly titled “Arizona Latest to Attack Gay Rights.” She warned that the law “would result in nothing less than chaos,” even though the federal government has operated under the same rules for twenty years and Arizona had had similar protections since 1999. A bipartisan group of law professors set the record straight in a letter to Governor Jan Brewer:
The bill has been egregiously misrepresented by many of its critics …
We should not punish people for practicing their religion unless we have a very good reason. Arizona has had a RFRA for nearly fifteen years now; the federal government has had one since 1993; and RFRA’s standard was the constitutional standard for the entire country from 1963 to 1990 …
[The proposed law] would amend the Arizona RFRA to address two ambiguities that have been the subject of litigation under other RFRA’s. It would provide that people are covered when state or local government requires them to violate their religion in the conduct of their businesses, and it would provide that people are covered when sued by a private citizen invoking state or local law to demand that they violate their religion.
The rhetoric about giving bigots a license not to serve gays and lesbians was simply nonsensical. Indeed, religious liberty claims in connection with same-sex marriage have never been about turning away certain persons or groups, but about not endorsing certain actions or ceremonies.
But the lies worked, and Governor Brewer, a Republican, vetoed the bill. Among those applying pressure were Arizona’s two Republican senators, John McCain and Jeff Flake, as well as Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney [and State Senator Bob Worsley], showing that both political parties are susceptible to abandoning principle once the media dial up the heat. Or big business. National Football League officials expressed concern about holding the Super Bowl in Arizona, as scheduled, should the religious liberty bill be enacted.
The scholar’s letter flew right over the head of the frightened governor, who vetoed the bill and got the rabid radicals off her back.
ARE YOU A DEMOCRAT OR A CHRISTIAN?
| DEMOCRAT | CHRISTIAN |
| 2012 DNC Convention voice vote preference to leave “God” out of platform | Matthew 10:32-33 — Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven. |
| You have a legal right to kill your unborn child. You have an obligation to fund Planned Parenthood with your tax dollars. You have an obligation to fund abortion with your tax dollars, and will be punished if you refuse. | Jeremiah 1:4-5 — The word of the Lord came to me, saying, Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Genesis 1:26-27 — Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 9: 5-6 — And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being. Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind. Proverbs 6: 16-19 — There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. Deuteronomy 30:19 — This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live |
| You have a legal right to marry a person of the same gender. Government should pay for sex changes. Children should experiment sexually. | Genesis 5:2 — He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind”[a] when they were created.
Matthew 19:5 — For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. |
| Your rights come from government. | Galatians 5:1 — It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. |
| Animals and the earth are of greater value than human beings. | Genesis 1:26 — Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” |
| Man, animals, birds and plants evolved from a lower order, by accident. | Genesis 1:21 — So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind.
Genesis 1:25 — God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. |
| Human beings make their own morality. | Romans 1:22 — Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
Jeremiah 10:14 — Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. The images he makes are a fraud; they have no breath in them. |
| You are not encouraged to work. | 2 Thessalonians 3:10 — For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” |
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve … But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:15
EPA to Defy Judge
By John Semmens – Semi-News — A Satirical Look at Recent News
Judge Ralph Erickson of the District Court for the District of North Dakota granted plaintiffs an injunction against the Environmental Protection Agency’s implementation of new navigable waterways regulations that were set for immediate enforcement. The EPA’s new regulations would have extended its authority over every body of water within the United States including rain runoff, temporary puddles, and spillage from yard sprinklers and driveways where home owners wash their vehicles.
The Judge observed that “it seems extremely improbable that the proposed EPA authority could conceivably apply to the so-called ‘navigable waterways’ described. As such, the 13 states suing the EPA would appear likely to win based on the merits of the case. An injunction pending the outcome of their suit is the best means for limiting the damages that taxpayers will be forced to pay if the regulations are permitted to go forward.”
EPA Press Secretary Melissa Harrison said the Agency “will go forward with implementation in the 44 states that are not covered by Erickson’s decision. The Administration disagrees with the presumption that the plaintiffs will win their suit.” As evidence, Harrison cited Judge Lisa Godbey Wood of the District Court for the Southern District of Georgia’s rejection of a plea for an injunction in a suit filed by 11 other states.
“What we have here is one judge attempting to impede a policy decreed by the leader of the free world,” she asserted. “Surely, the scales of justice will tip toward the greater weight represented by President Obama and the majority of judges who have accepted his rule. I mean, is there really any doubt that the US Supreme Court will eventually uphold this regulation? They’ve upheld every other major policy innovation he’s backed.”
Clinton Likens Planned Parenthood Critics to Terrorists
Seeking to divert attention from her admittedly unwise and likely illegal handling of classified material through her unsecured private email account, Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton sought to draw a parallel between advocates of defunding Planned Parenthood and Islamic terrorists.
“Both groups relegate women to second class status,” Clinton claimed. “Both deny women the right to control their reproductive heath. Both would force women to be vessels for carrying unwanted children into the world. Both espouse out-of-date ideas about how the world should work.”
GOP presidential contender Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla) characterized Clinton’s claims “as twisted and malevolent an inversion of morality as we are likely to see from a purportedly sane person. Islamic terrorists are cutting off the heads of those who oppose their barbarism. Planned Parenthood is cutting off the heads of children and selling them as raw material for medical research. Lumping those who want to stop taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood’s diabolical profiteering from the murder and dismemberment of innocent babies with Islamic murderers is as evil a slander as any ever perpetrated by the Nazis.”
Unfazed by Rubio’s counter, Clinton pointed out that “all of the babies aborted are unwanted. Planned Parenthood is merely aiding both the women who don’t want them and the babies themselves to avoid a life of burdens and suffering. Defraying some of the costs of this noble endeavor by recovering and selling parts that otherwise would simply be trashed helps reduce the amount of public funds we must appropriate for the organization to carry on this vital work.”
In related news, Planned Parenthood announced that a study it commissioned exonerated the organization from all charges of wrongdoing related to the videos revealing some of its chief officials discussing the sale of baby parts. “In none of these videos do we see any money changing hands,” Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said. “What we see is the Center for Medical Progress getting Planned Parenthood personnel drunk and eliciting giggling boasts about some of the humorous aspects of the business. While some might find such behavior distasteful, both our attorneys and representatives from the US Attorney General’s office have assured me that it is not criminal.”
Boehner Warns GOP Voters Against Cruz
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) warned voters against falling for GOP presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz’s “siren song of feel-good, but politically unviable policy prescriptions.” Boehner’s remarks came at a Colorado fund-raising event.
“Securing the border, defunding Planned Parenthood, killing the deal with Iran may sound good to unsophisticated ears, but they aren’t going to go anywhere,” Boehner told wealthy donors. “President Obama is going to block all of these notions. If we follow Cruz we get nothing. If we go along with the President we stand a chance of getting a piece of the action.”
The “piece of the action” Boehner is so keen to hold onto includes “ensuring that important Republican constituencies get a share of government spending thrown their way. The federal government buys lots of stuff. Seeing that it buys some of this stuff from our donors is our responsibility Sacrificing this potential cash flow for the sake of futile challenges to the President’s agenda is foolish. Cruz is a jackass for pushing them.”
Administration Makes End Run Around 2nd Amendment
In a move said to side-step Constitutional impediments to reasonable gun control, US Secretary of State John Kerry signed on to a UN agreement establishing an international gun registry and controls over the sale and transport of “small arms.”
“Every sensible effort to restrict access to guns in the United States has been blocked by court rulings citing the Second Amendment’s ‘right to bear arms,’” Kerry complained. “Well, the US Constitution doesn’t apply to the UN. It is not fettered by the kind of out-of-date notions that stymie policy in this country.”
“While the gun extremists at the NRA may not be satisfied, the agreement will allow individuals to own and use guns for legitimate purposes,” Kerry reassured. “Duck hunters can keep their shot guns. Elk hunters can keep their rifles. Professional bodyguards can keep their pistols. But the availability of access to firearms for use in domestic murders or by self-styled militias and vigilantes will be sharply curtailed.”
Kerry dismissed possible Senate opposition as “a non-issue. The Senate only has jurisdiction over treaties. This is not a treaty. It is an agreement among sovereigns. President Obama, as the sovereign of the United States has the absolute right to make this agreement and commit this country to abide by its provisions.”
Congresswoman Calls Fetal Parts Sales Humane and Life-Saving
Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Fla) waded into the Planned Parenthood controversy and insisted that carving up the unborn for spare parts is both “humane and life-saving.”
“First of all, what could be more humane than putting these unwanted creatures out of their misery?” the Congresswoman wondered. Saying that “I doubt that fetuses could feel pain, but even if they could the momentary pain of a medical instrument slicing the spinal cord has got to be far less painful than a lifetime of poverty and abuse as an unwanted child.”
“Second, given that the law grants a woman the unrestricted right to terminate her pregnancy, doesn’t it make sense to try to salvage the residue?” Wasserman-Schultz asked. “I have heard that a company in California transplants salvaged fetal kidneys and implants them in rats where they can be grown and later used as a transplant for someone. Those heaping criticism on Planned Parenthood never mention this life-saving repurposing of recovered biological material.”
In related news, Planned Parenthood is suing the State of Louisiana for terminating its taxpayer-funded subsidies. Planned Parenthood official Cecile Richards called the State’s action “an illegal usurpation of President Obama’s authority to determine how government funds are to be used. The federal government gives Louisiana money earmarked for Planned Parenthood. The State has no right to refuse and return it to taxpayers.”
Obama Accuses Jeter of Cheating
President Barack Obama leveled cheating charges against former Yankee great Derek Jeter as the athlete easily beat him in a round of golf.
Press Secretary Josh Earnest alleged that “the president’s prowess has been borne out in hundreds of rounds over the past six years where he has gone undefeated against every prior opponent. How likely is it that Jeter would be the only person to win against him?”
Earnest brushed aside the possibility that a skilled professional athlete of Jeter’s caliber might have genuinely been a better golfer. “Let me point out that the president has more hours of golf under his belt than Mr. Jeter has,” Earnest argued. “Mr. Jeter was a baseball player. Any contention that skills that might have worked for him in that sport could somehow translate into golf skills sufficient to best the President seems dubious.”
Jeb Slams Asian Immigration
Hectored by Latino illegal immigrants for using the term “anchor baby,” GOP presidential candidate former Florida governor Jeb Bush contended that he was referring to Asian immigrants.
“China and India are the real threat,” Bush maintained. “There are over a billion of each of them. That’s enough to totally overwhelm the 300 million Americans living in this country. There are only 125 million Mexicans. Even if every one of them migrated to the United States we’d still outnumber them by a wide margin.”
The candidate went on to outline what he called “a strong plan to interdict illegal Asian immigration using the vast size of the Pacific Ocean as our first line of defense. Unlike Mexicans they can’t simply walk into this country unless they go to Mexico first. But I will work with the government of Mexico on a joint operation to prevent Asians from using this route. Those flying or sailing to the United States will, of course, be intercepted at the airports and seaports.”
Bush hastened to remind reporters that “so far I’m the only candidate with a plan targeting this threat. Asians are worse because they come here to take our high-paying jobs. Most of the Mexicans who come here take jobs mowing lawns and cleaning homes—saving many middle class families from having to do these chores.”
A Satirical Look at Recent News
John Semmens is a retired economist who has written a weekly political satire for The Arizona Conservative since 2005. He says working on his satires is one of the ways he tries to honor the liberties our Founding Fathers tried to protect.
Please do us a favor. If you uses material created by The Arizona Conservative, give us credit and DO NOT change the context. Thank you.
Dark Money
By The Goldwater Institute
The proponents of mandatory reporting of private civic activities have won a major marketing victory by the widespread use of the phrase, “dark money.” As one commentator put it, “Dark money. The name itself carries ominous undertones, undertones that critics of this relatively new campaign-finance phenomenon claim reflect a genuine threat to democracy.”[x] But the term is misleading. “Dark money” would be more aptly referred to by what those who find free speech objectionable actually support – mandated government disclosure. The use of such terms is intended to cast suspicion on those who contribute to various civic causes so the debate revolves around ad hominem attacks rather than engaging on the issues.
So, what is “dark money”? It conjures images of shady political operatives greasing the palms of politicians in dark, smoked-filled rooms. But does it also apply to traditional political activities, like you and your neighbor contributing your time and money to civic and social activities that you support? And is it really a threat to democracy, or are those who seek to silence the voice of opposition and limit speech the real threats?
“Dark money” generally refers to funds spent for political activities by businesses, unions, nonprofit organizations, and individuals who are not required by law to disclose the identities of their donors. Depending on where supporters of government disclosure draw the inherently arbitrary line, dark money could refer to donations made to the American Civil Liberties Union (“ACLU”) or to your local church or soup kitchen.
As a general matter, all spending that calls for the election or defeat of a political candidate or constitutes “electioneering communications” involves some level of disclosure to the government. In fact, there are more disclosure obligations on the books today than at any other time in our nation’s history.[xi] Nevertheless, some supporters of government disclosure claim that current laws do not go far enough. They assert that certain charitable and social welfare organizations, including those organized under § 501(c) of the federal tax code, should be forced to disclose the identities of their individual donors when those organizations engage in political activity, even if that is not their primary function.[xii]
Those calling for the elimination of “dark money” are thus attempting to dramatically extend the reach of government-mandated disclosure to a wide variety of organizations, activities, and communications.
Advocates for expanded disclosure call for such dramatic and far-reaching regulations despite the fact that “dark money” is not a pervasive element in American politics. Some government disclosure advocates claim that so-called “dark money” expenditures constitute a significant portion of political spending in the United States.[xiii] But the characterization is inaccurate. In the 2014 election cycle, the Federal Elections Commission reported approximately $5.9 billion in total spending on federal elections.[xiv] Of that $5.9 billion, roughly $173 million came from groups that are not required by law to disclose donors.[xv] This represents a mere 2.9 percent of all spending on federal elections – hardly a significant portion. In fact, this figure represents a decline from the 2012 election cycle, where such expenditures amounted to 4.4 percent of spending on federal races.[xvi] As the Center for Competitive Politics observed from the 2012 election cycle, “Nearly all of the organizations that financed such independent expenditures . . . were well-known entities, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the League of Conservation Voters, the National Rifle Association, Planned Parenthood, the National Association of Realtors, the National Federation of Independent Business, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and the Humane Society.”[xvii] As a result, there is no secret as to what causes and issues such groups support.
Under existing campaign finance laws, the identities of these groups must be revealed when making direct contributions to candidates or political parties or engaging in other electioneering communications. Additionally, donor identities must be disclosed when they specifically earmark their donations to nonprofit organizations to be used for electioneering communications. Those types of donations can hardly be characterized as “dark money” in need of further regulation when under existing disclosure rules, anyone can see that the NRA contributed to Candidate X and Planned Parenthood contributed to Candidate Y. The positions of those organizations are well known. Characterizing those expenditures as “dark money” is, therefore, disingenuous. But forcing further disclosure of donor identities is at best unnecessary, as donors may contribute to organizations to support the overall mission rather than any specific political candidate. Their donations are intended to support certain issues, not politicians.
Claims that “dark money” is distorting American politics are even more tenuous when leveled at 501(c)(3)s, considering these nonprofit organizations are prohibited from participating in any partisan political activity.
Casino Gambling in Arizona Claims More Victims
Gambling and casinos have caused a lot of problems in Arizona and every other state where they are legal. Many have succumbed to gambling addiction, stolen from their employers and broken up their families and marriages. The sad story that follows isn’t the first in Arizona and it won’t be the last — not as long as we have legalized gambling. Some say, “oh but the money builds roads and schools.” The bottom line? It’s ill-gotten gain off the backs of shattered lives and broken families. This is a dark day for a culture in decline.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced the sentencing of Larry Dahl, a former Phoenix attorney. Dahl was sentenced to 3.25 years in prison and seven years supervised probation after defrauding his former clients of $2,940,439.
“The defendant stole millions of dollars from his clients to fuel a gambling addiction,” said Attorney General Mark Brnovich. “Dahl was in a position of trust and he abused that trust. The Attorney General’s Office takes these cases very seriously.”
In addition to his prison sentence, the Honorable Jay Adleman ordered Dahl to pay $2,940,439 to the former clients he defrauded. In 2013, Dahl was indicted on 20 felony counts accused of embezzling money from client funds for nearly 5 years, from January 2001 to January 2005. Over that time period, Dahl gambled the $2,940,439 he had stolen at various casinos and lost the entire sum.
Dahl embezzled client funds directly from their interest-bearing money market accounts by writing checks payable to himself. To perpetuate this scheme, Dahl frequently transferred money between 46 client money market accounts to create the illusion of accurate individual account balances.
On June 25, 2015, Dahl pled guilty to three felony offenses: Fraudulent Schemes and Artifices, Money Laundering and Theft.
Mr. Dahl was disbarred in 2006.
Assistant Attorney General Brett Harames prosecuted this case.