The Invisible President

Joe Biden seems to be on permanent vacation:

Biden has gone without a public event for 43 of the 75 days since he dropped out on July 21. During the 32 days he did make appearances, Biden scheduled only two events before 11 a.m., none before 10 a.m., and just five after 5 p.m., according to an Axios review of the president’s schedule. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is seeking to distance herself from the Biden-Harris administration’s dismal policy record, has held only one campaign event with Biden and rarely mentions the president in her speeches. First lady Jill Biden has also largely disappeared from the campaign trail, with sources telling Axios that Harris’s team has made little effort to involve her in campaign events. Acknowledging his unpopularity, Biden has privately agreed to follow whatever strategy Harris’s team believes will help her win, even if it means avoiding campaigning in some states, according to Axios. Nearly all of Biden’s recent meetings and calls with foreign leaders were scheduled between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. His aides privately noted that while the president can stay focused between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., he often struggles with fatigue and has difficulty speaking coherently outside those hours. Biden has sat down for only two interviews since July 21 and went on vacation for much of August.

Out of sight, but not out of mind...

Big Bucks Matter

Tt was a good scam while he had it:

The former head of Black Lives Matter Atlanta was sentenced to prison for stealing donations to fund his lavish lifestyle. Tyree Conyers-Page was sentenced to 42 months in prison after he was found guilty on one count of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering earlier this year. According to prosecutors, Page created a social media page named Black Lives Matter of Greater Atlanta (BLMGA) and set up a GoFundMe to raise money. Page maintained the BLMGA bank account and from April 2018 to May 2020 it only showed small transactions that never exceeded $5,000, Fox 5 Atlanta reported. However, after George Floyd died, donations came pouring in to Page’s bank account “with June 2020 witnessing approximately $36,493.80, July 2020 around $370,933.69, and August 2020 an additional $59,914.69 in contributions,” Fox 5 Atlanta reported. Investigators said Page used the money to buy property in Ohio, furniture and luxury items. Page also used the money to fund a flamboyant lifestyle which he showcased on his social media accounts.

Charity is where the fraud is...

Walz Report

Past scandals resurface in Minnesota:

Feeding Our Future — a program to help feed needy children — fraudulently spent close to $250 million, but as CNN reported, instead of going to help hungry kids, the money went toward “buying houses, luxury cars, and a suburban bar and restaurant.” CNN said when state auditors looked into the fraud, they found Walz’s Department of Education left the door open for something like this to take place. As CNN cited in the auditor’s report, the “MDE’s actions and inactions created opportunities for fraud,” stating further it “failed to act on warning signs.” Minnesota’s Republican House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth commented on Walz’s responsibility in the matter. Completing this poll entitles you to The Western Journal news updates free of charge via email. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. “When he is not holding any commissioners responsible, then yes, Gov. Walz is responsible for the fraud that has been ongoing in the state of Minnesota.” The MDE received 30 complaints between 2018 to 2021.

Walz's past comes back to haunt him...

Stress Test

The election could cause stress, or something:

Given it is the height of the political silly season, I recently awoke to find on my health insurance provider’s website the following event: “Election Stress and Your Mental Well-being.” Evidently, among the ostensibly mature adults inhabiting our free republic, a health crisis burgeons: citizens are experiencing cognitive and emotional difficulty dealing with a common civic occurrence and its outcome. In fact, “coping” with voting induces such angst, one may be compelled to retreat to the succor of cyberspace counseling to learn how to talk to family and friends about the election; and to otherwise “learn strategies to help manage stress and anxiety that elections can bring.” My first response was “Really?” In my case, the healthcare provider was over a decade late for my peak election stress—and even as a candidate, I never needed help to deal with it. You win; you lose; real life goes on. But then empathy struck me. We live in a period of time where segments of both sides of the political spectrum are convinced this election will determine the fate of “our democracy” and “free republic.” And both sides’ operatives and candidates will spend over a billion dollars offering “fear itself” to drive their supporters to the polls and/or drop boxes.

We have nothing to fear except the other side winning...

Boarded Board

Chicago has no school board:

The board was supposed to be Maytor Brandon Johnson's lapdogs. The former union organizer for the Chicago Teacher's Union believed he had the board in his back pocket. But then, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) started spending money it didn't have, creating a $1 billion budget shortfall. The board knew this shortfall was coming but passed its $9 billion budget anyway. To close that budget gap, Johnson wants to take out a $300 million loan at usurious rates. That may be only the beginning since the teachers have come to collect on their investment in Johnson. The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is negotiating a new contract and they expect their handpicked mayor to back them in what promises to be the biggest, most expensive contract in the city's history. Standing in their way is the CEO of the school board, Pedro Martinez. Martinez opposes the loan idea. He'd rather cut some of the budget bloat and fat from the district. He and Johnson are at loggerheads over the loan, with the board caught in the middle. Johnson wants Martinez gone but the board refused to fire him. The school board will undergo many changes in January, including expanding the board to 21 members, 11 chosen by the mayor. Johnson denies it's a power play and played the race card to the fullest. “This is not about a loan,” Johnson said. “It is about investing in our children and not accepting cuts like for too long in this district. Guess who loses when we cut schools? Black and Brown children. I don’t want Black and Brown children to lose under my administration. In fact, they’re not going to lose under my administration. I’m going to fight for them.”

Because he's done such a great job so far...

Welfare Nation

The welfare mentality has corrupted both sides:

In a recent Gallup poll, an amazing 9 in 10 young women support socialized medicine, paired with higher taxes on the wealthy. What is the risk in backing pricey utopian experiments when there’s no bill coming in the mail? Now, if we flattened federal taxes and compelled everyone to pay their “fair share,” or even one-tenth of their share, for that matter, 9 in 10 young women would be hoisting Gadsden flags on their lawns and sticking “taxation is theft” bumper stickers on their cars. That’s never going to happen, because the incentives of contemporary politics are dangerously distorted. The more the government spends, the less Americans expect to pay. The more dependency it creates, the less self-reliance it expects. The Wall Street Journal recently reported on a new study that found a mind-boggling spike in government dependency. In 1970, safety-net funding accounted for the significant income in fewer than 1% of all counties in the country. By 2000, 10% of counties were getting a significant share of their income from federal and state safety-net and social programs. Today? More than half of all U.S. counties drew at least a quarter of their income from government aid. While people on the Left like to grouse about “income inequality,” they never mention that every year, nearly $2 trillion, about the GDP of a mid-sized European country, is transferred to low-income Americans through hundreds of programs, from Medicaid to food stamps to refundable tax credits. Right now, there are 42 million people on food stamps. It would be one thing if the state were lifting citizens from poverty, but it is creating a permanent underclass.

Which is what the powers that be want...

Euro Doom

RIP the EU:

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke at the Berlin Global Dialogue this week, an event focussing on ‘shaping a new economic era’, making stern warnings that China and the U.S. were leaving the European Union behind in key areas of development, and calling for reform to catch up. The remarks are just the latest instance of the French leader warning the EU faces death if it doesn’t follow his lead, having previously used the word to describe the threats he perceives from Russia, and his own political rivals on the right-wing. Addressing the forum, Macron said: “The EU could die, we are on a verge of a very important moment… Our former model is over – we are over-regulating and under-investing. In the two to three years to come, if we follow our classical agenda we will be out of the market.”

No more Europa dreams...