Smelling a rat down south

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"You come to our border the wrong way, you get sent home. Period. Until we get smarter and fix this, the caravans will continue to come. And come. And come." 

Some friends of ours recently moved to Florida. Not that far from the Tampa Bay area. If tomorrow morning, my wife and I decided to take that 1,500 mile drive down to see them, it would result in three very tough, very long days of travel. If per chance, I was in the shape of my lifetime, and decided to make the trip on foot, it would take me two months - if at all. And that is walking 25 miles a day. 

But in that epic journey, there would be some minor logistic problems. Like, where and what to eat? Where to sleep? How many pairs of shoes would it take? Safety issues. The list could go on and on. For someone to make this 1,500 mile trip, the type of shape that person would have to be in would be beyond excellent. Are you getting where I am going with this?

I am calling BS that this mob of people magically appeared at the Guatemalan border, made it across the river into Mexico, and then grew to almost 8,000. And to do it all with barely the clothes on their backs. No way, Jose! There is a puppet master somewhere pulling the strings on this deal.

But that is not the kicker yet. They are going to try and make it to our southern border by the time our elections are held in two weeks. Huh? Make a political statement. How is that going to happen? This caravan of people, some old, some kids, would have to average 100 miles a day to make it by the election. 

Here is the rub. No matter which day they arrive, no matter what mode of transportation they use, we are going to have a big problem. If this caravan of migrants make it to our border, and then set one foot on one inch of American soil - we are screwed. It will be deja vu all over again. Our laws mandate we must give them an amnesty hearing. So here we go again. Separation of families. Kids being put in storage. Families disappearing into the wind once they get a court date. We know the drill - we have been through this dozens of times. 

However, here is our biggest problem. Even though we are getting a lot of good lip service from the Mexican government, they either can not, nor will not, stop this caravan. Some think they might even be helping the caravan. Heck, they don't want these people in Mexico either.

What I find interesting is this. If the shoe was on the other foot, and there was a mob of 8,000 Canadians trying to make it on foot to Mexico, this country would be all over it. If Mexico asked us to stop this caravan and send it back to Canada, we could do that in a heartbeat. We could stop that caravan dead in its tracks, no matter where it was in our country.

For the next few weeks, we will be watching this caravan continue to make progress to the north. It will grow. There will be hardship. Maybe even some death. We will be blamed for it. The Republicans will once again using this as an example of how broken our immigration laws are. The Democrats are licking their chops. They are seeing 8,000 more voters getting closer to the homeland. 

When will this end? It won't. That is, unless we change the board. By changing the board, I mean changing our laws. No more catch and release. No more getting a court date in the future. You come to our border the wrong way, you get sent home. Period. Until we get smarter and fix this, the caravans will continue to come. And come. And come. 

Minnesota's two blue zits

"We are not 'One Minnesota' Mr. Walz, we are two, maybe more Minnesota's right now. Your side caused us to be so. And there is nothing your policies can do to fix that. In fact, they will only make it worse." 

For those of my friends who live deep in the bowels of the Twin Cities, please don't be angry. But this needs to be said. So, let me start this off the right way. Those who are leading the cheer about making Minnesota Red again, guess what? It already is. That is, except for two bright blue zits in the south central part of the state. That would be the Twin Cities. If the tens of thousands of takers and frauds who live deep in the inner cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, voted in another state instead of ours, Tom Emmer would be running for his third term as our Governor. 

And because Tom Emmer would be running for this third term, we would not have Tina Smith as a fill in Senator. Why not? Because we would have never have had Al Franken either. Nor ObamaCare. Nor MNSure. But because we have these bright blue zits called the Twin Cities, the entire state has a bluish tinge. And thus, we ended up with Dayton, Franken and Smith.

In the paper this morning was some interesting polling. Polling on the narrowing race between Walz and Johnson. When you read between the lines on the geography of the poll, Johnson is way ahead in the suburbs surrounding the Twin Cities, slightly ahead up north. and about even in Walz's home area - southern Minnesota. But in the Socialist mecca of the Twin Cities? Walz (aka Santa Clause) is way ahead. The takers in the Twin Cities don't much care for Jeff Johnson. Why? All Jeff can promise them is opportunity. Walz promises two chickens in every pot, plus the kitchen sink.

Those who have spent some time recently in Minneapolis, know this. This City of Lakes, with its rich heritage, is NOTHING like it used to be. Today, it is a microcosm of California (politically), existing in the middle of our state. Yet, 25 miles in any direction from Minneapolis and St. Paul, you find red blooded citizens. Patriots. People who are not afraid to vote for candidates who promise only opportunity. St. Paul is almost as bad as Minneapolis is, but in my book, Minneapolis really takes the cake.

How are we doing on that "One Minnesota" theme Mr. Walz? Because of what the Democrats have done to the Twin Cities, most folks from the burbs (or further out), spend as little time in the Twin Cities as possible. And the city dwellers feel the same way when then get outside of their Blue Bubble. We are not "One Minnesota" Mr. Walz. We are two, maybe more, Minnesota's right now. Your side caused us to be so. And there is nothing your policies can do to fix that. In fact, they will only make it worse. 

How does the Red Team overcome these two bright blue zits come election time? As I have said a hundred times before, we need one more vote than the Democrats can muster. All hands on deck, and everybody votes. 1.3M Red Team votes would really do the trick. If we can do that, we can offset the Socialists in the Twin Cities. If we can't - get ready to live in a sanctuary state with even higher taxes. 

Time to privatize rail?

"Is it time to privatize rail? Not a bit. It is time to kill this money eating pig. The old question keeps popping up - lanes or trains? Most of us would like the lanes, thank you. Put the LRT in the dustbin of history - right next to the Edsel." 

Did you ever wonder why Tim Walz has such hair brained ideas? Like, to raise our already sky high gas tax? What sense would that make? For starters, our roads have been neglected. Anyone who drives on them can tell you that. Also, the traffic flow has grown so much, it has outstripped the infrastructure. Whose fault is that? The Metropolitan Council. After the 610 freeway was done, they said no more. We will just have to make do with what we have. If you don't like it - take a train. 

Why do I bring up Walz's gas tax proposal again? For two reasons. First, because we are limited (thanks to the Met Council) on how many roads we can have, any new gas tax will do NOTHING to help our congestion. Second, if we started using our transportation dollars for roads ONLY, and not part of it for trains and bike trails, we would be much better off with our road maintenance. Like so much better off, we would not need any increase in gas tax.

"Okay, smart guy", some might say, "just how are we going to fund our light rail then?" Privatize them. The whole kit and caboodle. What? Do you know how much that would cost? Yes, I do. But if this was privatized, they should cost less than they do now. Why? Companies, motivated by P/L would be doing the job. 

"But what about the cost of a ride? If the government won't subsidize, who will ride these things?" That is a good, and a very important question. Not only would the cost to acquire and build need to be amortized, but also the operating costs would need to be rolled in. In the business world, it is called the TCO - Total Cost of Ownership.

Here is the irony. If we privatized rail, even being able to make it and maintain it cheaper, NOBODY would ride it. It would still be way too expensive. Right now the North Star, has a  round trip subsidy of about $40. And that is just operating costs. Roll in the amortization costs, and you would end up with a ghost train on each ride.

This now brings us full circle. Of course, we would never privatize trains. No business with an ounce of sanity would jump into that quicksand. Only the government would. So, to keep building and maintaining trains, more dollars need to be taken away from roads. The more dollars taken away from roads, the more progressive populists like Tim Walz will cry out for more taxes. They cry for more, more, more from already overtaxed Minnesotans. 

Is it time to privatize rail? Not a bit. It is time to kill it. It is just a money eating pig. The old question keeps popping up - do we want lanes or trains? Most of us would like the lanes, thank you. Put the LRT in the dustbin of history - right next to the Edsel. 

Our non-stop invaders

"If we practice open borders, and allow everyone in, our national 'lifeboats' would become swamped. They would sink. We would not survive as a nation. People in this world need to fix their own countries first. Lord knows, they get enough funding from US to do it."  

Here they come again. I know. This is a tired old song. Like a bad penny, they keep showing up. Some might think we are racist from not wanting Central American folks in this country. That could not be further from the truth. We don't want LAW BREAKERS in the country. And yes, we would feel the same if they were from Canada, Europe, or where ever. 

The last caravan which came to the border, ended up being a huge cluster. Big time. The Administration tried to do the right thing, to operate within our goofy immigration laws, and it backfired. Families separated, court orders, demonstrations, yuck. Not this time. Our President practices the age old adage of "once burned, twice learned". He is not going down that rabbit hole again!

Besides threatening the countries from where these caravan folks come from, Donald Trump said he is also going to mobilize the military. If he has to, he will order them to be on the southern border and keep these people from crossing. He also has the cooperation of Mexico, as they will try to keep this caravan from reaching our border. Do I think they will try hard to do this? No - just look at history.

In our country, like many others around the world, there are laws which define the right way and the wrong way to do things. That includes immigration. When fence hoppers come in the wrong way, it is unlawful. Period. The Democrats however, seeing all these potential voters so near, yet so far away, start to scheme. They don't give a rat's butt which way the fence hoppers come into the country, as long as they get in. It boils down t this. Step one - get them here. Step two - get them a voting card.

I have said this a thousand times before, and I will say it again. If these Central American countries are truly "sh*t holes" like our President says they are, it is up to the United Nations to help them out. If they are beset by violent gangs, and the local government can't control them, send in the blue helmets. If the governments are corrupt, have the UN sanction new elections. I have been to Central America. It is beautiful country down there with wonderful people. Heck, some people in this country choose to retire down there. For a variety of reasons.

When the Titanic sank, there were more passengers on board than there were life boats. Some passengers survived by being on lifeboats, many others did not. If everyone tried to hop into a lifeboat, all the lifeboats would have sunk, and nobody would have survived.

If we practice open borders, and allow everyone in, our national "lifeboats" would become swamped. They would sink. We would not survive as a nation. People in this world need to fix their own countries first. Lord knows, they get enough funding from the US to do it.  

RIP Chivalry

"One of these days, a punch or a kick to a woman might be the match which lights the fire. We are at that point right now. Dangerous times for sure."  

Chivalry. That rusty and dusty term from the past. It is so very yesterday! Today, we have entered a new realm. The realm of Antifa. Of anarchy. Of political war. Some women are still okay. The ones who favor the killing of babies are okay. But conservative, pro-life women? It is open season on them.

As much as I miss my Dad, I am happy he is not here to see this. It would have broken his heart. Ever since I was a young lad, my Dad always taught me the importance of treating a women with respect. With dignity. It was a high honor to so so. Seems that it is no longer true.

Here are the new rules folks. The Democrats are playing for keeps. The political season is no longer sport - it is a blood sport. In Minnesota this past week, a female Republican politician was punched in the arm by a Democrat man. What? A man hitting a woman? You mean like when Keith Ellison (allegedly) mishandled his girlfriend? And that is okay? Or in another state, where a Democrat man did not like what a Republican woman said, and then grabbed her so hard by the arm, it left bruises. Like I say - new rules.

As much as those of us on the Right recognize this is the season of new rules, new rules on how to handle a woman, we refuse to follow suit. Some of us - no most of us - still practice the age old tradition of chivalry. We may tell a women we disagree with her hair brained, populist ideas, but that is as rough as it gets. 

I have been saying this for weeks. There will come a day, when the wrong man assaults the wrong woman. How do I know this? I know a lot of women who carry. Lots. And if a woman feels she is in danger, she will ventilate the man abusing her. It is as simple as that. And there is not a court in the land who would convict her for doing so.

Recently there was some "punked out" butt head who decided to drop kick a defenseless, pro life woman. Kicked her right in the head. Knocked her to the ground. It really is too bad there were no gentlemen present when it happened, This loser who kicked her is about 155 pounds ringing wet. Big enough to kick a woman, but not big enough to do that to a man his size - or larger. 

This lack of chivalry is just one part of the loss of civility we have seen in our country as of late. Words have morphed into threats; threats are morphing into punches; soon punches will morph into something much more violent and final. This is the road we are on. And this road is heading to a dead end. 

One of these days, a punch, or a kick to a woman might be the match which lights the fire. We are at that point right now. Dangerous times for sure.  

The health care folly

"If he had known how McCain would have torpedoed the ObamaCare rescue effort, or how the Democrats would try to blame us for the sky high costs, Trump probably would have left it alone. I wish he would have. But - no good deed goes unpunished." 

I know I am not the only one who has noticed this. Frankly, I would be amazed if ANYONE on the Red Team has not. What is it? Health care. I'm sorry - wrong term. ObamaCare. That is what healthcare is today. Yes, even after almost two years of a Trump Presidency, we still are saddled with ObamaCare - and the sky high costs which come with it.

Here is the best part. The part which takes gonads the size of Texas. The Democrats are running ads on how un-affordable healthcare is. Like it is our fault or something. We tried, we really tried, try to fix this thing. The Republicans have had numerous bills brought forth while Obama was President. Bills to kill ObamaCare. The only things which got killed in the process, were the bills.

Then the best chance we had to kill ObamaCare, was right after Trump became President. It was nip and tuck, but we could do it. Heck, we had the House, the Senate, and the White House. PLUS - this was a promise we made to the American people.

The "Death to ObamaCare" Bill passed the House - and then it was on to the Senate. Once it passed the Senate, Trump was ready to sign it. His pen was locked and loaded. Then our last Republican, came up to vote. The Senior Senator from Arizona. The Senator who could have brought this very important bill over the finish line. To put an end to this nightmare, for once and for all. And then, our winning vote, our Republican Senator who not that long ago ran for President against Obama, turned out to be the losing vote. The Senior Senator from Arizona put "thumbs down" on the bill. So, ObamaCare remains the law of the land.

John Adams said "Facts are stubborn things", so I will not bore you with any more facts. ObamaCare was 100% Democrat owned, and now the Democrats are trying to tar and feather the Republicans for the sky high cost of healthcare. It is kind of like blaming the United States for starting World War II. 

Did I tell you yet what the solutions are to healthcare? The ones the Democrats have put forward? Euro style single payer. Some call it "Medicare for all". Others call it the $30T money trap. I call it VA for all. Those who have lived it, call it rationing for all. 

Margaret Sanger would have loved it. Abort babies which are not up to snuff, nor wanted. Then euthanize old folks who have lived long enough. Heck, everyone knows that most of our medical costs come from dealing with the old folks. Get rid of them. With rationed care, once the old get sick, give them some happy pills, then put them someplace nice to die.

Donald Trump had it right as soon as he became President. He said, "Part of me wants to leave ObamaCare alone. We own 0% of it, and the Democrats own 100% of it. But that would not be fair to the people suffering under the costs of it."

If he had known how McCain would have torpedoed the ObamaCare rescue effort, or how the Democrats would try to blame us for the sky high costs, Trump probably would have left it alone. I wish he would have. But - no good deed goes unpunished. 

"I got this"

"We can't ask anything more of our candidates. They have been all in since the get-go. Hard, hard work, and many miles traveled. It is no longer up to them. They have been the right messengers delivering the right message. Now it is up to us."

I got this. Is it not a wonderful feeling, when it is your turn? Like Jack Morris in the World Series, when he told the coach in the ninth inning - "I got this". When the rest of the team is looking at you to clinch the victory. That one special moment when you turn to not only the coach, but also the rest of them. You smile, and maybe wink, and say, "I got this". It is like, don't worry - it is in my hands now.

Well, in less than three weeks, that is what we all can say. "I got this". Because in less than three weeks, all the traveling, all the door knocking, all the lit dropping, all the money collected - won't mean spit anymore. The only thing which will count is if more of the Red Team get to the voting booth than the Blue Team. Each member of the Red Team needs to look back at our candidates who have worked so hard to get this far, maybe smile, maybe wink, and say - "I got this". 

In 2012, the last time Amy Klobuchar ran, almost 2.7 million people voted. Amy received 2/3 of those votes. Beat Kurt Bills by about a million votes. Ouch! What does this tell me? We need 1.4 million people to vote for Jim Newberger this time around. 

In 2014, the last time Al Franken ran, almost 2 million people voted. Al Franken got 53% of the vote, or slightly over a million votes. Karin Housley needs to have at least 1.1 million people to vote for her this time around.

In 2014, in the race for Secretary of State, Steve Simon received a hair over 900.000 votes. "Doc" Severson received a hair under 900,000 votes. For John Howe to win this seat in 2018, we need a million people to vote for him. 

In 2014, Lori Swanson got just over a million votes to win the Attorney General race. Scott Newman from the Red Team, was far behind. To put Doug Wardlow as our next AG, we need somewhere between 1.1 and 1.3 people to vote for him.

Now here is the big one. In 2010 and 2014, Mark Dayton did not crack the one million vote mark. Neither did Tom Emmer or Jeff Johnson. For Jeff Johnson to win this year, we need (at a bare minimum) one million people to vote for him. If a million people had voted for Jeff in 2014, he would be running for re-election this year. If a million people had voted for Tom Emmer in 2010, he would be running for this third term. 

Now comes the big one - the grand prize. If the Red Team gets out in numbers like we have not seen during the past two state wide elections, if we can garner 1.3 million votes for our Republican candidates, we might just be able to run the table. Turn this state a very bright red. If however, we vote in numbers like we have in the past, we will be at the bottom, looking up (again).

We can't ask anything more of our candidates. They have been all in since the get-go. Hard, hard work, and many miles traveled. It is no longer up to them. They have been the right messengers, delivering the right message. Now it is up to us. We need to look ourselves in the mirror, as well as the person next to us, and say one simple thing - "I got this". If we say it, and then do it, we will have victory in 2018. And how sweet it will be!