Christmas Joy to All!

Christmas will arrive in just six days from today, 

and the season is of course in full swing! Your 

joyful Peasant wishes you, my wonderful, fantastic,

beloved readers a most Merry Christmas and a 

deliriously Happy New Year! 

Your beloved Peasant is taking the rest of the week 

off, and the week after that as well. I shall return to

rejoin you on January 5 for another year of poring 

over the political and economic news of the day,

praising the good, pricking the bad, and the ugly ... ?

We'll figure that out as we go. But we shall use this 

present time to recharge our batteries, be with our 

families and friends, and give our love to The One who

made this season possible, who is the Reason for the Season,

whose being among us all those years ago --- 

and ever since then the world has never been the same.

I love you all! Christmas cheer to you!

MEM

Something's Rotten in Nicaragua

Nicaragua is a country with a curious recent history. 

The people of this central American country had  

gotten rid of a brutal dictator, Anastasio Somoza,

and replaced him with Daniel Ortega, a leftist

who schemed for some years to overthrow Somoza.

His reign soon proved to be as dictatorial, if not

in fact more so, than that of the dictator whom he

overthrew. After a protracted effort to rid the nation 

of the Marxist, Ortega was replaced with a democratically- 

elected government and leader, restoring freedom           

and stability for Nicaragua.   

Ah, but how quickly people forget some things, 

including what transpired the last time a certain 

leader headed the national government. After some 

years of their hard-won democracy the Nicaraguans

brought Ortega back to power (!). And things went 

back to the way they were in the 1980s when Ortega 

ruled Nicaragua with an iron fist.    

Of late, Ortega had a bunch of politicians from the

opposition parties arrested and imprisoned. Two of

them, Juan Sebastian Chamorro and Felix Maradiaga,

have each been sentenced to 13 years in prison for 

"conspiracy to undermine national integrity", that is

to say, opposing the government. After a farcical trial

in which the defense lawyers were forbidden to speak 

to the defendants --- their clients! --- and the defendants

were forbidden to speak, period, Chamorro and Maradiaga

have been held in a prison where they are subjected to cruel

and inhumane conditions all the while. Whatever possessed

the Nicaraguan people to return this Marxist monster 

to power? Now they are faced with the task of ousting this

power monger and his rotten regime for the second time.

Santayana was spot on when he said "Those who do not 

learn from the past are condemned to repeat it." The people

of Nicaragua receive a grade of  "F" for they have failed to

learn anything from their recent history regarding trying 

socialism as a political and economic system. They have 

failed their history lesson spectacularly. 

MEM           

The New Look GOP

Oh what fun it is to spoil the narrative of the left-wingers 

and their main political organ the Democrat Party! This time  

around they really took it on the chin re: their boasts about 

their supposed diversity, as compared to the Republicans.

Although the "Red Tsunami" didn't materialize, a tsunami of another

kind had; a tsunami of diversity, stealing a page from the Dem's book.

According to the National Republican Congressional Committee,

28 of the Republican's 435 House nominees for the election are 

black, while 33 are Hispanic. Some of them, including two black

West Point graduates --- John James of Michigan and Wesley Hunt

of Texas --- were favored to win. Many of you, my sharp and with-it 

readers, know that James ran for governor in Michigan and for a 

U.S. Senate seat from that state but had two heartbreakingly close 

defeats. Your prognosticating Peasant thinks that John James will 

be "third time lucky"; I say all this in the tense I have chosen to use 

because I haven't seen the all of the election results from Michigan

at this point in time. The sweetest thing about all this is that the 

Republicans nominated these candidates not because of their 

different skin colors, genders, ethnicities, or any other categories

into which people are relentlessly labelled, filed, indexed, and

cubby-holed by the lefties but because of their solid position-relevant

qualifications, i.e. running for and in some cases holding elected 

office prior: experience in business, the military, education, or other

fields of endeavor in which they picked up knowledge and skills 

which would enable them to serve their districts and states well.

And some of these candidates were elected, too. 

Candidates like these are the Democrats' worst nightmare, especially 

for their campaign strategists. The Dems ceaselessly wail about  

voter suppression disenfranchising minorities via mandatory voter IDs

which are merely to prove that the voter is whom he/she claims to be

and lives where he/she claims to live, and certainly most importantly

that he/she is indeed a citizen. But how, then, did the black turnout 

rate surpass that for whites in 2008 and 2012? In 2018, black, Asian,

and Hispanic turnout were each record-setting for a midterm election.

Coupled with the fact that more minorities are voting Republican these

days, these findings make it rather difficult for the Democrats to brand

the Republicans as racists, calling their party platform "Jim Crow 2.0".

And let's not forget which party begat Jim Crow along with segregation

and similar white supremacy-themed nastiness in the first place.

The Dems' crying "Foul!" about alleged voter suppression? 

Not unlike yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theatre with not even a puff of

smoke to be found.

Also worth noting is that while President Donald Trump lost his bid 

for re-election in 2020, the GOP won some nice consolation prizes such

as small but significant gains among all, as in ALL, racial and ethnic 

minorities, especially blacks and Hispanics. Under the Trump admini-

stration, the poverty rates for these two groups were the lowest on

record. Furthermore, black wages grew faster than white wages. 

During this time period, the Dems and the lamestream media hollered

that President Trump would be disastrous for these groups; they are 

still wiping egg off their faces over that disastrous prediction.

Additionally, blacks don't play the two major parties against each other

nor do Hispanics, making the Democrats and the Republicans 

compete for their votes. This has resulted in the GOP learning how

to win without courting their votes; it isn't because the Republicans 

don't want or don't care about their votes (especially for racist 

reasons) but that the Dems have long ago won over black voters largely 

by default, with the Dems benefitting from these groups' votes without 

working very hard, if at all. So the GOP had written off these votes 

while their opposition had taken them for granted. This has 

caused many black and Hispanic voters to come to the conclusion that 

the Democrats don't bother to listen to them and their concerns, let 

alone work to solve their problems, economic ones certainly among 

them.

But now the Republicans have discovered that they can win the black 

vote with a good-faith effort. And they are connecting with black voters 

in such a way as to astonish and worry the Democrats. Black voters  

need and deserve more and better choices in our elections, and with 

more black Republicans on the ballot, there is the definite prospect of 

more black candidates in future Republican primaries. The GOP is also 

more confident about winning a far greater share of the Hispanic vote.

There were more Hispanic Republican candidates on ballots around 

the country than per usual, thanks to the GOP also connecting better

with Hispanic voters. All of this illustrates that one's vote does not and

should not be dictated by one's skin color, ethnicity, or by any other 

category which people fall under. Such good, liberating news for 

blacks and Hispanics and other groups of Americans; but very bad

news for the Democrats.

MEM 

Would You Have These People Over For Dinner?

Donald Trump has declared his candidacy for the presidency 

just two weeks ago but the former president has shown his

propensity to keep bad company and engage in poor judgement.

Very recently he had thrown a dinner party at his Mar-a-Lago 

estate in which he had invited some friends and acquaintances.

Two of the guests were rapper and one-time Trump supporter 

Kanye West and Nick Fuentes, a young man with dubious 

politics. How dubious? How does the 24-year-old's being a 

white nationalist and a Holocaust denier grab you? Well,

it seemed to escape the former president's attention. 
Moreover, word about West's history of blathering anti-Jewish

conspiracy theories seemed to fail to register with the former

president as well. 

Now as you, my fabulous readers know, your favorite Peasant

has supported Donald Trump for the White House in 2016 and

for re-election in 2020, endorsing him the second time around.

I voted for him in '16 because although I was unsure of what

we'd be getting from Trump, I knew full well what we'd get

from Hillary Clinton and I wanted no part of it or her. I was

aware of Trump's faults, and how some of them could make 

him vulnerable to his enemies. But as his term went on I saw

a leader who cared about our country and us. What he did in

rejuvenating our economy, and so quickly, alone was reason

enough to trust and support him. I admit to the occasional 

wince, as well as the occasional grimace, at some of the things 

he said in speeches and interviews, and he kept company with

some people whom I thought he shouldn't. But he was as good

as gold for us, and the accusations that the Democrats and their

farther-left chums made against him didn't stick. Nor had the 

company he kept caused any harmful publicity. 

As the party invitations went out, the 45th president claimed that West 

had asked to see him, then appeared at the party with Fuentes, whom 

Trump claimed he didn't know or know of. However, afterward  

both men said the ex-president was impressed with Fuentes' political

insight (?!). Sources in attendance for the event may have leaked 

to the press that this was said. Now, I can excuse Trump for not

knowing who Fuentes was, as Fuentes was (until now) not a nationally

known figure on our political scene. Kanye West, however, is another

matter, as everything he says and does is picked up by the media

and is printed, transmitted, and broadcast everywhere, even to

(one supposes) Mar-a-Lago. Therefore, West's antisemetic spewings 

have become known to many. Why not also to the former president?

Others have taken Trump to task, good and hard. David Friedman,

who was ambassador to Israel during the Trump Presidency, was 

prominent among them. As Trump has never shown any example 

of bigotry to anyone while president, or before his presidency,

he is guilty instead of failure to vet visitors, especially for a 

rather formal event. President Trump has claimed the role of

an innocent who was taken advantage of by Kanye West.

Perhaps this is why West no longer supports him and won't be 

voting for him if he is once again the Republican nominee. 

Apparently Trump makes a practice of blaming others for some

of his errors of judgement and actions, as I have gathered from 

similar incidents reported on by non-liberal sources.

President Trump has got to do the following in order to preserve

his credibility as a candidate: one, he must be careful of whom he

associates with, as he will inevitably be seen with these people; 

two, he must vet them before he strikes up any friendships or 

business/political relationships with, and if he discovers anything

unsavory or even the least bit doubtful then he should put 

considerable and permanent distance between himself and them; 

and three, simply denounce the worst of the lot, i.e. what he 

should have done with the Proud Boys and other groups which

have resorted to violence (as on Jan. 6 of 2021). Sooner or later

his teflon shield will wear out, and he will take a tumble in the

estimation of many voters, including those who previously 

and enthusiastically voted twice for the brash businessman.

His chances of being the GOP presidential nominee again will

depend greatly on it. In the meantime I shall say my rosary for 

Donald Trump and for our country, repeatedly!

Also, could someone please pass the Pepto-Bismol? 

MEM

 

Thanksgiving Thanks and Thoughts

Your thankful Peasant wants to thank all of you, 

my wonderful, delightful, and enthusiastic readers 

for your ongoing support through your readership

and your comments about those posts which have

moved you to give your thoughts and opinions on.

May you all have a most Happy Thanksgiving and 

be able to spend it with your families and friends,

enjoying each other's company and each other's

love! May you also enjoy some grand Thanksgiving 

dinners too! Put away your calorie counters and just

enjoy the bountiful treat, for it is a part of this

beautiful holiday!

Let us also be thankful for one good thing which came

from some otherwise disappointing election results:

we took back the House and unseated ultra-liberal and

ultra-crooked Nancy Pelosi from the position of House

Speaker, defanging Pelosi by dethroning her! Word has 

it that she'll serve out her new term in the House but not

be House Minority Leader, then retire. Let's all give her

a hale and hearty goodbye when she does pack it in;

to not let the chamber door whack her on the way out!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

MEM

 

Socialists Are What Socialists Do

Yvon Chouinard, billionaire, founder of Patagonia, a $3B Company,

and avowed socialist, recently transferred control of his vast company

to a newly founded environmental organization of some sort.

Two things to keep in mind here: One, a great many wealthy people 

don't like to publicly acknowledge that they are wealthy. Two, even

self-avowed socialists will do everything they can to avoid capital 

gains, gift, and inheritance taxes. This billionaire claims that he 

never intended to be come a billionaire or for Patagonia to become

a $3B company. He just feels that his creation's profits would be 

better utilized if kept from the U.S. government, to Uncle Sam's

consternation. 

Well, many Americans feel the same way about their earnings, many 

of whom don't make nearly as much money as does Chouinard and

his company. But let them try to play keep away from our government's

coffers and see what happens. One rule for the Liberal Establishment 

elite, vast wealth and all; another rule for the peasants. 

Is it any wonder why I have taken up my pitchfork? 

MEM  

Post Election Day Thoughts

We've put the 2022 mid-term elections behind us,

and it's all over but the shouting. Your favorite Peasant 

is now going to do a little shouting myself.

What was supposed to be a red tsunami turned out to be

a red ripple. Yes, the Republicans won enough seats in the 

House to wrest it from the Democrats, and yes,

they dethroned Nancy Pelosi as House Speaker; she's no

longer the second in line for the presidency and is not the

second-most powerful government office holder in the 

country (thank God!!!). But instead of taking forty or more

seats to have a significant majority, they picked up less than

half that, and although the Senate races are not all settled

it looks like the GOP will have, when all is said and done,

picked up just one or two seats there, if any. The Senate 

could remain at 50 seats for each party, leaving the chamber

in the Democrats' hands with Vice President Harris in

the tie-breaking position. I haven't yet seen the final tally on

the gubernatorial races around the country, but sadly my

state, Wisconsin, has re-elected very left-wing Tony Evers

to a second term in the governor's office; yes, the knob who

was willing to let Kenosha burn to the ground during the riot 

in that major Wisconsin city in 2020, the year that such riots 

and carnage took place in many U.S. cities, all run by 

Democrats of course, many in states run by Democrat 

governors like Evers. Some other government officials

and advisors to Evers badgered him (no pun intended) to 

send the Wisconsin National Guard to Kenosha to quell

the riot and prevent more damage, and finally prevailed 

upon the governor to dispatch some Guard personnel to 

the stricken city, which they saved from further mayhem.

The honcho who did not add more staff to the department 

responsible for getting people their unemployment checks

when they applied at the time of Evers' lockdown mandates

when the coronavirus hit the state, causing many workers to 

be laid off. This resulted in many workers having their checks

delayed or not receiving them at all (your angered Peasant was

one of the latter). The Supremo (Stupremo?) who mandated 

schools and churches to be closed, and when schools reopened 

mandated the schoolchildren, all the way up to high school age,

wear safety masks to school, even though his administration

knew full well that the masks were ineffective against the virus

(as did many other Dem government officials in the other states).

Students fell badly behind in their schoolwork and their learning

while workers either worked from home (if at all) or, if they could

return to work at their places of employment, had to wear masks

and get vaccines, which also were not very efficient in keeping 

away the virus as it turned out. Workers refusing to get vaccinated

were faced with dismissal from their jobs. Families and friends 

could not gather together in numbers above a set limit in their own

homes (!). Restaurants, bars, pubs, theatres, and sports facilities

were either closed or severely limited in terms of how many people

could be in these places at any given time. And there were more 

such indignities and outrages as well.

Evers gave every reason not to re-elect him, but he had the good 

fortune to run against a candidate from the GOP who ran a campaign

which left much to be desired, including an accusation of sexual

harassment in his construction business to which he either weakly

or never responded to (if Tim Michels did respond I somehow

missed it). Evers won by 52% to 48% in the final vote, but a 

more aggressive candidate would have won the race easily, sparing

we Wisconsinites another four years of this clueless, careless, 

passionless, absolutely lacking in empathy elitist pig. Michels is an

honorable man, but he was a mediocre campaigner and candidate.

The attorney general's race was a close-but-no-cigar effort to unseat 

Democrat incumbent Josh Kaul, an AG with a bleeding heart for 

criminals but no empathy for their victims, nor any concern for 

the law-abiding citizenry. His refusal to enforce a 150-year-old law

on Wisconsin's books greatly curbing abortion was another reason

to send him packing, as it does no service to have an AG who will

only enforce laws that he approves of. 

At least we succeeded in re-electing U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, 

a Republican who has served two terms and came to the Senate

straight from his plastics manufacturing company, never having 

run for office before. He defeated, albeit narrowly, a radical left-

wing Democrat and current Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes, who is 

even more gung ho for criminals being treated with kid gloves and

a penchant for supporting taxes high and plentiful on the wealthy and 

the middle class while not paying his own taxes (property) and 

not paying traffic tickets, both going back a while. 

There have been mistakes, overlooked opportunities, failures, and 

insufficiently aggressive tactics in the campaigns of some of the 

Republican candidates for state constitutional offices and legislative 

offices, some of which have cost the campaigns victories. This has

held true for many races in other states as well. The Republicans did

indeed have some important victories and accomplishments

in the midterms, but with an overhaul of their campaigning methods

and practices they can have red tsunamis instead of pitiful little ripples 

or worse, painful defeats in races that they should easily have won. 

The GOP has two years to fix this, or else it's another four years

of ornery, elitist, demented Joe Biden or someone as bad if not

worse.

MEM

A Word About Election Day (Which is Tomorrow): VOTE!

Friends, as you are aware tomorrow is Election Day. 

Although the presidency isn't up for grabs (wait a 

couple more years) both the House and the Senate are.

If we can swing both chambers, as the Democrats

have a narrow majority in the former while the latter,

although tied up at 50 seats apiece, is in Democrat

hands with the Dem Vice President holding the 

tie-breaking vote when a tie occurs on legislation 

voted on, then we can have a buffer against President

Biden's radical agenda formed by the radical elements 

which have taken over the Democrat Party in recent years.

There won't be any more "stimulus" programs or 

any other multi-trillion dollar schemes which would 

guarantee we'd never have a low-debt load, let alone

debt-free country again, nor ever again have a balanced 

federal budget.

There also would be no more pushing far-left "educational"

texts, classes. programs, and other components of a radical

agenda on our schoolchildren either. Nor any "gender equity"

ploys such as biological members of one gender having to 

compete in sports against transgender athletes who have

a considerable advantage because they still have the 

musculature of the gender that they naturally had.

And there will be no more laws penalizing people 

who improperly refer to another's gender, that is, 

mistaking the other person's pronoun to be referred to

as, i.e. fines, disciplinary action at work or school, or 

worse. We shall also do away with shockingly lax criminal

laws regarding penalizing criminals. We can dismantle 

the lefties' progressive plan to turn our country into a 

socialist hell, and to eradicate it for all time.

We can restore sanity along with Constitutional rule of law 

in all areas and aspects of American life. We not only can, 

we must, for the sake of not only ourselves and our families 

and communities but also for the generations to come. 

We can restore our country to the kind of country that it was 

meant to be once again. And all we need to do is simply 

to take that all-important first step, which is to vote tomorrow.

You all know who the candidates are that will work with us to 

make all of this possible. But they can't help if we don't exercise 

our right and our duty to vote.

It's easy to register to vote; you can do so at your polling place.

Bring family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and classmates

with you. Get as many people whom you know to the polls as

you can! 

But most importantly, just vote. Please, vote. Vote as if your lives

depend on it, because they do. Our way of life, and the quality of

life for us all, the American people, are on the line. The very things 

which make our lives livable. The reasons why so many people

flocked to our country since its inception, all for having a better 

life. The elements of our national society which has made our

country the envy of the world. 

Vote.

Vote! 

VOTE!

MEM

Lina Khan Can't

Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lina Khan 

has had loads of fun, pushing around businesses since

being installed in her current government position. 

However, she may have recently met her match.   

Walmart answered a punch Khan fired at them with

a punch of their own by challenging an abusive

lawsuit via challenging the agency's enforcement power.

Federal agencies, with their legions of bureaucrats, 

make rules and regulations that have the force of 

laws, and backed by the law itself. Walmart is battling 

back at the action taken against the retailer and the notion  

that an agency can do this with impunity. 

The FTC lawsuit claims Walmart aided and abetted 

con artists who took advantage of their customers, but

said suit has skimpy evidence. The FTC doesn't show that

Walmart had done anything wrong; rather, it argues that 

the company turned a "blind eye" by processing money 

transfers requested by customers who had been swindled.

This despite the fact that Walmart ran various anti-fraud 

programs including requiring customers to show government-

issued photo identification and warning them about scams.

However, the FTC complains that Walmart should have 

done more to stop the less than estimated 0.08% (!) of 

payments which customers unknowingly sent to the 

confidence tricksters via Walmart's money-transfer 

services. Furthermore, the FTC also argues that Walmart's

mere awareness that some of their customers might be

cheated (!!) makes the retailer liable for damages.

That's tantamount to a tire store selling sets of tires to 

their customers while being at all aware that any and all

of the tires may go flat by developing a leak or getting

punctured, then holding the tire store liable for any 

damages.

Walmart makes a powerful case that Congress "exceeded 

the limit on the powers that may be constitutionally vested"

in the FTC when it granted the bureaucratic agency the

authority to sue businesses in federal court. The basis of 

their case is the Supreme Court's Humphrey's Executor

(1935) precedent. In that case, the Court upheld restrictions 

on the President's removal authority of FTC commissioners

on the grounds that the FTC was an "administrative body" 

that exercises only "quasi-legislative or quasi-judicial powers"

such as conducting administrative adjudications as well as 

making investigations and reports to Congress. However,

in the 1970s Congress gave the FTC fundamentally executive 

powers by allowing it to seek injunctions and monetary relief

in federal court. Walmart stated that this act is invalid under 

Humphrey's Executor. Walmart held that if the President can't

fire commissioners at will, then they can't wield executive power.

Walmart is seeking merely to reaffirm Humphrey's limitations 

in their case which illustrates how agencies that are supposed 

to be independent have become constitution-flouting bullies

without accountability regarding how they use their power.

FTC Chair Lina Khan, take note. The FTC is not a branch of 

the federal government, and you, madam, are not a queen, 

even though you like to act like one.

MEM

A Scary Halloween Season for the Left

Some scary things have been happening to the lefties and the Democrat

party. Recent debated between their candidates for various offices in 

various states, among them governorships and U.S. Senate seats, have

not gone well. As a matter of fact, they went from mediocre 

performances to unmitigated disasters. Most notable among the 

latter was the debate between Pennsylvania Democrat Lt. Governor 

John Fetterman and his Republican opponent TV personality

Dr. Mehmet Oz, in which Fetterman stumbled and bumbled his way

through the affair, even declaring at one point that he was in favor 

of fracking to get fuel (he's not, but he has very little grasp over the 

content of his speech when he talks due to a near-fatal stroke he had

around the time of the Pennsylvania primaries. Why his handlers, 

and even his wife, is letting him continue with his campaign and has

let him participate in this debate when he's clearly not up to it all

is anyone's guess). Incumbent Republican Senator Ron Johnson 

in my home state of Wisconsin, seeking re-election, has come form

nearly ten points behind to pass his radical left-wing Democrat 

opponent Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes, as Barnes is being a little 

too honest about one thing while not being honest enough on some 

others; while being vague or worse on employment matters as well as 

on previous personal political activities, i.e. helping to establish the 

far-left Working Family Party, a tiny but feisty minor party which is 

active in Wisconsin, New York, and a few other states while being 

forthright on releasing more violent criminals while favoring issuing 

cash bail requirements for violent criminals to be free while awaiting

their court cases. 

And of course the scene wouldn't be complete without our dementia-

riddled president adding to the pot. His pronouncements on the

inflation rate, which is the highest it's been in over 40 years, as being

minor and temporary have gotten many Americans quizzically

wondering where he gets his gas for his limo (I do believe I've hit on

the crux of the matter re: President Biden's understanding of how 

things like gas prices come to be!). And then he blames the oil 

companies for being greedy, jacking up the price of their gasoline

at the pumps, and even apportioning some of the blame to the gas 

station owners for getting in on the action! He's been just as ridiculous

on other subjects in his speeches as well. It's no wonder that his staff

minimizes his public appearances in terms of times in the limelight

and how much time per appearance!

Meanwhile, GOP candidates are picking up more and more points in 

the polls, including black and Hispanic candidates, eating into the 

heretofore "safe" constituency groups of the Democrats. Polls also

indicate the return of the House to the Republicans and even that 

of the Senate, the former by a wide margin and the latter by a hand-

ful of seats, say 52-48 or so. But it would be enough to hog tie 

President Biden and the Dems for the next two years! And this will

not bode well for them in 2024.

And all around the country, the people have had them up to the sky 

with their mix of incompetence, dishonesty, gaslighting, and arrogance.

So this shall boil down to a witches' brew of frightening consequences 

for the Democrats and their pals, and the coming election will be the 

scariest of the scaries that will manifest. Happy Halloween, Dems!

And a very Happy Halloween to you, my wonderful readers!

MEM

Should Unions Govern?

As your favorite Peasant has written two weeks ago, 

there is a movement afoot to guarantee union power

in the Illinois Constitution, with a ballot measure at 

the forefront of the effort. As an amendment to that

state's constitution, called the Workers' Rights Amend-

ment by its supporters, it would make parents kiss their

parental rights goodbye, taxpayers wave their hard-earned

money so long, along with even a glimmer of a chance 

of a state turnaround, bidding all to send an occasional 

post card. 

This was not always the status quo in the land of Lincoln.

As recently as the 1960s, Illinois government employees 

were considered to be "public servants", and they even 

regarded themselves as such. Although their pay was 

rather low they retired with a pension for life. In 1967,

however, state legislators legalized collective bargaining 

for public sector workers, then in 1973 made it compulsory 

for governments to bargain with state employees. In 1984

a law was passed making school districts negotiate with 

teachers' unions, piling on a rule affording teachers explicit

legal protection to strike in case of disputes. In 1999 the 

state lawmakers did the same for the police and firefighter

unions. 

The legislation also guarantees that no law can be passed 

that "interferes with, negates or diminishes" these afore-

mentioned union rights nor any others. Any lawmakers 

under this law will be blocked from reducing property 

taxes or from restoring parents' rights (see the next 

paragraph to learn the consequences of the latter).

At present, just three states --- New York, Missouri, and

Hawaii --- have collective bargaining provisions in their 

constitutions. Illinois, though, has zoomed past them and

their rights entered in those states' constitutions expanding

bargaining powers beyond hours and wages to include 

the protection of workers' "economic welfare" and "safety",

terms so broad and vague that they enable public unions to

bargain over rent control and defunding the police (!). 

Teachers unions can join in the mischief with the ability to

insert radical racial and sex-education curriculums right into

labor contracts. For example, parents could not go to their 

local school boards to demand that the 1619 Project not be

taught to their children, nor could they protect them from 

sex-ed texts with graphic images and printed descriptions 

of sexual acts and so forth. 

This ballot measure, labeled Amendment 1, would forever

ban right-to-work laws from being enacted in Illinois. 

All but one of Illinois' neighboring states is a right-to-work 

state, and this would be trouble for Illinois' economy.

Any advantages of this proposed law would accrue only to

government workers, as private-sector workers are covered

under federal labor laws, which do not grant such latitude 

in many labor-related matters. 

Illinois' political masters would love nothing better than to 

have their ideas spread to the rest of the country. Don't think

that it couldn't happen; Democrat governors and legislators

in other states have a blueprint to go by. Keep all this in mind 

as you go to the polls on November 8, and on election days to

come.

MEM

On Unionizing Government Workers

There is a movement afoot to recruit federal government 

workers which is being wholeheartedly cheered on by 

the progressive Democrat members of the House of 

Representatives as well as far-lefties outside of Congress.

And it's apparent that these pro-union enthusiasts have 

no sense of history concerning their party, the thoughts on

unionization of federal government workers held by some 

Democrat presidents going back nearly a hundred years,

or the consequences of such unionization. 

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was one of the

biggest allies unions have ever had in the White House,

opposed unions for federal government workers because it

would place both employer (Uncle Sam) and workers on

the same side of the negotiating table. Politicians would then

have an incentive with no downside, particularly in the form 

of figuring out to pay for their deals with the fed worker's

union, to give workers what they want on contracts.

Taxpayers, who would end up paying more in taxes for said

deals, would have no one representing them and their interests 

in the resultant unbalanced negotiations. 

So far, aides to eight progressive House members have filed 

petitions with the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights 

to start the unionization process. Staffers have long complained 

about discrimination, pay and working conditions, and during

most of these years of such complaining the Democrats have 

held the House, and many years both the House and Senate,

pointing to the Dems as the ones making for tough working

conditions for staffers and other government employees.

And proving FDR correct as well as prescient, the pro-union

staffers' bosses in Congress are joyously cheering the petitions.

All of this came after a House Resolution in May to allow staff

to collectively bargain for the first time in our country's history.

"I am so proud of the staffers who made a historic move today 

in seeking union recognition," crowed Michigan Rep. Andy

Levin (D). "I am inspired by my staff and all those organizing

who are leading by example," gushed Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar 

(D), who by the way is a member of the very far-left super-pro-

gressive group of U.S. representatives known as "The Squad"

whom your diligent Peasant wrote about in this blog some months 

ago. Again, the members of the House will not be paying their 

salaries; the taxpayers will get the bill. That, and the middle finger.

For the time being, each office must hold a separate unionizing vote,

and happily few offices are taking that step. But this could change 

if the Democrats prevail in this November's mid-term election.

The American people deserve to have elected representatives who

work for them; as well they should, for the people have hired them

by voting them into office, so the representative's staff should also

work for the representatives and for the people who elected them,

not for any labor union. Republicans, note well that one of your 

duties should you take back the House this fall should be to repeal

the union resolution. FDR knew that this would be a bad thing.

Some other Democrats over time, to be sure, have shared this stalwart

Democrat President's negative view of such a setup, proving 

opposition to federal workers' unionizing is not a solely partisan 

maneuver. The ball shall be in the GOP's court should they win

this November. 

MEM      

The "Union-est" State in the Union

As Illinois is a deeply blue state (not to be confused with the 

"Deep State", which has been discussed a lot of late on conser-

vative radio shows as well as in conservative periodicals),

its key constituencies have great sway in Springfield, perhaps 

none more so than Organized Labor --- especially public unions.

As we gather here at this blog, Illinois' Democrat legislators 

are trying to amend that state's constitution to entrench the power

of the public employees' unions and to block reforms.

These are just some of the features of Amendment 1, which will  

be placed before Illinois' voters in November.

The Dems hold supermajorities in both chambers of the legislature

which put through this measure for the voters' approval. Amendment

1 would change the Illinois Constitution to read that "employees 

shall have the fundamental right to organize and to bargain collectively

through representatives of their own choosing for the purpose of 

negotiating wages, hours, and working conditions, and to protect 

their economic welfare and safety at work." But the National Labor

Relations Act already has charge over private workers and limits 

who can bargain about what. Illinois is not therefore allowed to 

expand the collective-bargaining rights of private employees. 

Hence the plan of Democrats and their union allies to draft and 

pass legislation to bring private employees up to par, as it were, 

with their public employee counterparts, for according to State 

Sen. Ram Villivalam (D), one of the measure's sponsors, " ... 

the members of the House should be aware, the NLRA governs 

organizing and collective bargaining in the private sector and,

as such, pre-empts any direct State regulation on the subject."

Although he then added that Amendment 1 thus "could not apply 

to the private sector," Villivalam and his fellow Dems in Springfield

are billing Amendment 1 as protection for "all Illinoisans." 

Additionally, the pro-union Vote Yes for Workers" Rights also 

claims that the legislation will benefit "first responders like nurses, 

firefighters, and EMTs" (Note: these categories include private 

workers). 

Furthermore, Amendment 1 would expand eligible subjects to include

anything that effects workers' "economic welfare and safety at work."

This means that this bill would go far beyond the usual subjects of

primary interest to unionized workers, i.e. wages and hours. This 

amendment would bar the Illinois Legislature from passing any 

bill that "interferes with, negates, or diminishes the right of 

employees to organize and bargain collectively over their wages,

hours, and other terms and conditions of employment and work place

safety." Guess what this means for attempts to enact Act 10-type

legislation a' la Wisconsin, with an accompanying right-to-work law.

The Illinois Policy Institute, a free-market think tank, states that 

"contracts created under Amendment 1 will carry the weight of the 

constitution, allowing government unions to override state laws."

Incredible. Astounding. Shocking. And many of us are concerned 

over federal and state bureaucracies which write rules which are 

granted the weight of the law, affecting businesses and the products

and services which they provide. 

The IPI and the Liberty Justice Center, a public interest law firm, 

joined forces to sue to block Amendment 1 from the November 

ballot on the grounds that the plain language of its text contradicts 

the NLRA, and therefore is in violation of the Supremacy Clause 

of the United States Constitution. So far they have been defeated 

in circuit county court and in State appellate court, and now plan to 

ask the Illinois Supreme Court to hear the case, which is certainly

chock full of liberals making up a comfortable majority. So now 

that it looks to be certain that the voters of Illinois will get a say 

regarding Amendment 1, they will be the last hope Illinois has

of avoiding a union takeover of state government and the accom-

panying difficulties for the state's economy and public finances.

But seeing as how these same voters voted these power-mongering

Democrats into office and have consistently returned them in every

subsequent election, it's pretty predictable as to what they'll do 

in November. And Illinois' unions will have power that unions in 

the other 49 states can only dream of possessing.

By the by, Illinois' pension kitty for the public unions is already

broke. 

MEM  

One Person's Democracy is Another Person's ... ?

Early in July, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh,

who had just a bit earlier was the target of a failed assassination

attempt, was dining at a Morton's steakhouse when a mob gathered

outside of the restaurant. Given all this, one would think that a bit

of condemnation of the mob, whose purpose was to intimidate 

Justice Thomas because of their anger over his ruling in favor of 

striking down Roe vs. Wade in the process of making his ruling in 

the Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health Organization case, would  

have been due and duly made public by everyone in the realm 

of politics. The left-wingers, sadly but predictably, made 

equivocation, snark, and just plain old nastiness.

"This is what a democracy is," proclaimed the White House Press 

Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Gee, your dumbfounded Peasant never

knew that democracy included behaving in a threatening manner 

toward one with whom you politically disagree with. One learns 

something new every day. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, that 

towering intellect from New York, cracked "It's all very unfair to

him ... The least they could do is let him eat cake" on Twitter.

This, by the way, is the same social media site which suspended, then 

permanently banned your favorite Peasant for saying much milder

things about the Democrats and for announcing what my next subject 

discussed on PWAP would be. To put icing on this particular cake

while reporting on the incident, a bevy of press outlets stated that

by criticizing the mob and defending Justice Kavanaugh and its 

other customers against intimidation, Morton's had chosen which 

side in the "culture war" it wanted to be on. All because they wanted 

to give their customers a safe, quiet, and comfortable setting

in which they could enjoy their gourmet meals. 

I don't think that the lefties' version of democracy is something that 

our free country with its constitutional republic would be able to 

tolerate, do you?  

MEM     

Thank You, My Wonderful Readers! Thirteen Fantastic Years!

Thirteen years of publishing PWAP, poring over and examining 

the political and economic news of the day, commending the 

commendable and condemning the condemnable among the 

newsmakers and their actions, and simply enjoying each other's

company on this blog, an oasis of critical thought and common

sense. And you, my wonderful readers, have made it all possible!

Thank you all for our time together, and may we have another 

thirteen years together, followed by another thirteen years, and 

many more years after that!

I apologize for not posting my thanks and praise to you for our 

thirteen years of our get-togethers on the day, but there was a crush of 

things to mention here, along with things off-blog that demanded your 

encumbered Peasant's attention. But here I am, and here we are!

The Peasant wishes all of you every single one of God's blessings!

MEM

Queen Elizabeth II, Great Britain, R.I.P.

Although our country broke away from this monarch's country,

fighting a protracted, devastating war to gain our freedom, 

to never again take orders as to how to conduct our affairs, 

and to never again bow before a king or queen, we are saying

our goodbyes to a monarch who had been a friend to us, as 

well as to the world. A queen, a magnificent woman who had

no desires of conquest and control but only of friendship and good 

will, who had bid a hearty farewell and good fortune to the former

colonial holdings of her country, which was once the hub of an

empire which stretched across the globe. A great lady who 

could keep a "stiff upper lip" in her people's inimitable way

but also had tenderness and compassion which she had shown 

not on rare occasions. A lady who exhibited grace while dealing

with people who had none, who displayed great diplomacy 

without suffering fools yet never making them suffer her

displeasure. A mother who raised her children, one of whom 

has now succeeded her as the reigning monarch of their 

country to be, like herself, sterling representatives of their

royal family and of their nation and their people. A person 

whom we can all emulate, even though most of us are not in

the least of royalty, and therefore can smooth the rough edges 

of our society and our world. 

Your Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, House of Windsor, 

Great Britain, United Kingdom, God rest you and love you.

Requiescat in pace. 

MEM

Wokeness Flunks Out

Wokeness, with its confining, extremist philosophy, politics,

and social rules, has taken root and devoured much of our 

country's society; sports, science, education, even business 

has been caught in the net of this movement. On the education

front many schools, especially state (public) schools have become

veritable indoctrination centers for making wokeness the 

order of the day, replacing free and critical thinking along with

academic rigor. George Washington University's law school

came under attack for its continued relationship with Justice

Clarence Thomas, as the Supreme Court member delivers a 

lecture on campus annually. Thomas is, of course, a conservative

and a black man, double trouble for lefties --- especially those of

the very far-left woke variety. 

So GWU explained in a letter, "Because we steadfastly support the

robust exchange of ideas and deliberation, and because debate is

an essential part of our university's academic and educational 

mission to train future leaders who are prepared to address the 

world's most urgent problems, the university will neither terminate 

Justice Thomas' employment nor cancel his class in response to 

his legal opinions." The university went on to state to its students

"It is not the proper role of the university to attempt to shield 

individuals within or outside the university from ideas and opinions 

they find unwelcome, disagreeable, or deeply offensive."

In other words, GWU's message to their woke objectors is,

quite simply, "Suck it up, buttercups!" The Peasant's message to 

the university is "Bravo!"

MEM     

 

Affirmative Action Gets Involved in Criminal Law

A news story out of Pierce County, Washington: a police officer 

spotted a man sitting in a car, parked in a high-crime area. 

Suspecting theft, the cop asked for his name and date of birth.

After returning to his squad car to check the information, 

which by the way was false, the man drove away as fast as

he could and a chase ensued, ending with a crash. 

The case went to court where the driver, Palla Sum, asked to

have the charge of making a false statement to the police 

dropped since the officer allegedly seized him illegally,

without any cause, before asking for his name. The police

objected, saying that Sum had not been seized, but rather 

had merely been asked a question, to which he voluntarily

answered. However, the court ruled unanimously that Sum

had in fact been seized, and therefore must be released,

since he was Asian and the police have "a long history 

of implicit and explicit bias against people of color," 

so Sum had reason to assume it was indeed a seizure.

The law, according to the court, must make up for past

injustices and therefore go very lightly and softly on 

criminals, especially if they are classified as members of

a minority group. On reporting the story, the National Review

commented that it should be considered "affirmative action

for lawbreakers." 

Just another day in America's (woke) justice system. 

MEM        

Profanity, Workers, Management, and the First Amendment

American Labor Law seems, at least in the eyes of some,
to be the protectors of the First Amendment rights of union
workers, stretching those rights for them to a farther extent
than the aforementioned amendment's protections of free
speech for everyone else is concerned. Case in point: in 2012  
some picketing tire workers at Cooper Tire's Ohio plant
shouted racial epithets at several replacement workers who
happened to be black. One such slur was "Go back to Africa,  
you bunch of f*****g losers!"  

Cooper Tire fired one of the abusive strikers, who then sued  
the company claiming that it trampled on his First Amendment  
rights in terminating his employment over the incident.
An administrative judge overturned the decision of the tire
maker, Cooper Tire, which appealed to the National Labor Relations  
Board (NLRB), which upheld the ruling four years later.
Employers say that this ruling and others like it place them
into untenable positions between their workplace standards
with their company rules which uphold them, and labor law
--- possibly joined by antidiscrimination law --- if workers
are to guaranteed the right to make such racist catcalls.
This could lead to employers having no real say in what
transpires in their workplaces if they then have to ask the
NLRB's permission to enforce their companies' codes
of conduct every time even the slightest squabble between          
employees breaks out.   

Fast-forward just a few years, and the NLRB, with some
members appointed by President Donald Trump
having replaced some members that were appointed by
Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, reconsidered these
rulings. A case involving a General Motors employee in
Kansas City was disciplined for being verbally abusive
while acting "in his capacity as a union representative,"
with the said employee having told someone to shove
something up their backside (Your thoughtful Peasant
cleaned up the exact quote). In a second, unrelated incident,
this same employee, having been asked to lower his voice,
reportedly replied in a mocking tone: "Yes, master, sir. 
Is this what you look for, master sir?"

The administrative judge on this case, applying a four-factor
test, held in 2018 that the worker's first profane spewing
was protected. The second, however, was not. The judge
ruled that by repeatedly "using slave vernacular, the worker
"diverted from his union representational purpose" to launch
"a more personal attack".

So, according to these precedents, if an employee angrily uses
slave dialect or resorts to deploying the "F-bomb", the boss
first has to analyze the offending comment(s) with a four-
factor legal test, assisted by a labor lawyer or two before
taking any disciplinary action? GM, for its part, argues that
the administrative judge made several errors in his ruling.
One example was that the automaker said that the judge
"refused to acknowledge" three witnesses who testified that
they thought the first incident "was about to get physical."
The NLRB's precedents, GM continues, "are wholly at odds
with the modern workplace," and "put employers at risk of
losing control of their employees and their employee's safety."

There's more than just red tape that meets the eye here.

In September 2019 the NLRB asked for comment on just what
circumstances should place "profane language or sexually
or racially offensive speech" outside the protection of labor law.
It went so far as to ask whether the standards described in the
Cooper Tire case and similar cases should be modified or
abandoned. This question is still awaiting being settled as
your faithful Peasant writes this post. But the NLRB under
President Obama opened the door too wide to all of this
bedlam, and since then this same board has been straightened
up with some new members with a fresh and sensible
perspective, courtesy of then-President Trump. But now,

with another Democrat in the White House (President Obama's

vice president yet!), what will happen regarding this matter? 


MEM        

Well-Deserved Just Desserts

In an October 2019 post, your faithful Peasant discussed the fierce 

rivalry between moderate pro-life Democrat U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski

and far-left pro-abortion Democrat primary challenger Marie Newman

for the seat representing their Chicago-vicinity House district. 

Newman was drafted by the abortion lobby and eagerly backed for the 

nomination by the district Democrat party, losing narrowly to Lipinski 

in 2018 and winning just as narrowly in 2020. Winning the Democrat

primary is de facto winning the general election as well, as the GOP 

has a faint, minimal presence in that district and may as well not even

put up even token opposition. So Newman, who came into office 

on what was basically a single-issue campaign (and a terrible issue

at that!), had a very easy November that year.

Now fast-forward to the present: Once in Congress, Newman found 

herself the target of an ethics investigation. Apparently, in a 

clear violation of campaign-finance law, she promised another 

potential candidate in the primary a job in her office if that person

promised not to run. There is even a contract bearing Newman's 

signature which says precisely that. Ah, but a twist to the story 

develops: An Office of Congressional Ethics report produced a

truckload of documentary evidence that contradicted claims by 

Rep. Newman had made to investigators regarding the incident.

Due to Illinois losing a U.S. House seat after the 2020 census,

thanks to the state's increasing outflow of residents fleeing the 

high taxes and high crime there with the Dems in charge of just

about everything, Newman wound up in the same district as 

fellow Democrat Representative Sean Casten, who went on to 

destroy her in the 2022 Democrat primary with 68% to her 29% (!).

Although Casten is substantially not much different than Newman 

on the issues, it is good to see the back of ex-Rep. Newman as

her time in Congress is now up. Good riddance to bad rubbish!

A similar fate befell a Republican House member in Wyoming's 

recent primary. As representation in the House pf Representatives is 

based on population, and Wyoming has the second-fewest 

population among the fifty states and their scant population is

spread throughout the expanse of the large in terms of square miles

state, Wyoming is its own, one and only congressional House district.

A strongly Republican state, Rep. Liz Cheney, who happens to be the 

daughter of retired Vice President Dick Cheney, has been the state's 

lone representative in the House of Representatives serving as

Wyoming's Representative-at-large. An long-time conservative,

she became vehemently opposed to then-President Donald Trump

over the course of his term in the White House, taking issue not so

much with his programs and ideas but for surface issues, i.e. his

personality and his ability to get his programs passed and signed 

into law, oftentimes not going by the general and generally accepted

way of doing things in Washington D.C. This has been, unlike the 

Democrats' and the left-wing's opposition to Trump's ideas, initiatives

and programs an opposition to the style rather than the substance 

of the former president yet still lacking anything solid and substantive

in its reasoning. What capped off Cheney's opposition to Trump was

her belief that he had instigated the riot at the Capitol on January 6,

2021 in which some supporters of President Trump broke into the 

Capitol and raised hell in protestation of the 2020 election results 

which had Trump losing to current President Joe Biden. This is an

accusation which has never been proved, yet House Democrats and

anti-Trump Republicans such as Cheney tried to impeach him on

these grounds all the same. Some other GOP House members either

were defeated by pro-Trump candidates in their party primaries like

Cheney had been or decided to retire and leave Congress of their own 

accord rather than be thrown out by the GOP electorate in their 

home districts. 

Rep. Cheney lost in a landslide to her primary opponent, Harriet 

Hageman, by a whopping 37 points. The people of Wyoming were

quite happy with President Trump's performance as president,

cutting taxes, eliminating lots of red tape affecting businesses,

and facilitating the creation of more jobs, all that for a start;

Cheney and her fellow effete cocktail partiers couldn't stand the fact

that this brusque, direct, hang-the-subtleties and nicey-nice and 

just get the job done outsider who had never held a government

office before at any level accomplished more god in much shorter

 time than had many presidents from either party before him. 

And the people liked him. The people loved him! Over 74 million

votes were cast for Trump when he ran for re-election, which was

more votes than any other presidential candidate ever amassed 

except for Biden, and we'll discuss the controversies over his 

ballot totals another time, don't you worry. But the main thing

to bear in mind is the fact that the Republican incumbents in

the House had been taken to the woodshed by their GOP

supporting voters because Trump accomplished just what the

voters wanted to see done for the longest time but were denied 

by many Republican predecessors who didn't have the knowhow

or the guts to get things done. Trump certainly ruffled some 

feathers of some in the Republican party but those stuffed shirts 

deserved their feather ruffling. Trump offended some people in

the GOP but those who were offended both needed and deserved

to be offended. They, like the Democrats, have forgotten that they 

were elected to serve the people, not themselves nor their political

pals. It's like conservatives have two parties to do battle with!

But We the People need to clean house (the House and the Senate),

including the White House, and we shall accomplish the former 

this November and the latter in 2024. In the meantime we'll get

the drags on our progress out of the way in both the Republican 

primaries and the general elections. Those in the GOP must take 

heed from what happened to Liz Cheney, and the far-left "progs"

need to be mindful of what happened to Marie Newman, and 

realize that while they are certainly free to pitch their ideas for

governance to the people along with the candidates who would 

work for same and enact if elected, they must always, ALWAYS 

remember to listen to the people and hear what they want done

and whom they want to do that which they want done; that the 

people and their interests are to be served, rather than the people

be forced to serve the interests of self-serving politicians. The

politicians' failure to do so will be at their own peril.

MEM

 

MEM