Jim Bohn

Left and right agree on few things.  But one thing both agree on: our elites suck.

This year Spectre Board Meeting … oops, I mean gathering of the World Economic Forum … in Davos has achieved a rare consensus among both left and right.  We both hate them. 

Consider the takes of Britain’s Guardian and America’s New York Post on this top-level gathering of worthies.

The Guardian is Britain’s leading left-wing daily.  The New York Post is America’s largest conservative daily newspaper.

Here’s what the Guardian had to say about this year’s soiree in Switzerland:

[Davos] is a symbol of cloistered elites boldly pampering themselves as they lecture on the need for sustainability; it is a symbol of exclusivity draping itself in the language of democracy; it is a symbol of the unaccountable financiers and bureaucrats and intellectuals who went to the right schools and work for the right institutions and are therefore allowed to lock themselves in an impermeable bubble, gaze out in ignorance at a world whose problems they have never experienced, and prescribe a course of action that will, coincidentally, perpetuate the dominance they have enjoyed for generations.

The utility of any actually worthwhile networking or communication or information-sharing that occurs in the halls of Davos pales in comparison to the inferno of disgust that its existence stokes among millions of angry, mistreated, locked out people around the world who will never set foot inside its security cordon. If nothing else, the attendees of Davos should shut it down out of pure self-interest. They’re making everyone mad.

The New York Post is similarly unsparing in their criticism of the elites.

If you expect billionaires and political weasels to save the Earth, then you’ll love the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland. The Swiss government assigned up to 5,000 Swiss troops to protect its attendees — except from prostitutes charging them $2,500 a night. Self-worship is obligatory in Davos.

…

In 2016, WEF put out a video with eight predictions for life in 2030. The highlight of the film was a vapid millennial guy pictured alongside the slogan: “You will own nothing and be happy.” This bizarre notion was no WEF aberration. Last July, WEF proposed slashing ownership of private vehicles around the globe. And then there was the WEF pitch to save the planet by having people eat insects instead of red meat. But according to WEF managing director Adrian Monck, the WEF has been the victim of a horrible conspiracy theory sparked by the “own nothing, be happy” phrase. Monck sought to absolve WEF because the phrase in the video came from “an essay series intended to spark debate about socio-economic developments.” They didn’t really want to turn everyone back into serfs. How dare you criticize the billionaire elite with their own words? That’s misinformation!

Indeed.  Even the CEO of Morgan Stanley said the quiet part out loud when he characterized the whole affair as one big echo chamber: “…this echo chamber we live in here in Davos where everybody’s basically repeating back to each other what they’ve heard from the last person. Let’s be honest.”

The whole affair proves two things. 

First, that our elites don’t have your interests in mind.  If they did, they’d discuss politics that expand freedom so you can live your life as you see fit.  Rather, they want to dominate and control you. 

Second, even if they did, they don’t have any ideas.  As Morgan Stanley’s Master of the Universe was right, it’s just one big echo chamber.  It’s not just yodeling that’s echoing in those Swiss mountain valleys. 

Members of GOUSA live in the real world.  We are working to preserve what’s great about America and to fix what’s wrong in a way that expands freedom and opportunity for all Americans. 

If you haven’t, please check out the Five Points of Opportunity and the other content on this website.  And if you like what you see—and we think you will—join our movement or chip in a few bucks to help out.  You’ll be glad that you did. 

Both the Hassan and Bolduc camps agree that the New Hampshire Senate race is extremely close with Bolduc surging in the polls.

There’s a lot of news coming out on the New Hampshire U.S. Senate race.  The two major party candidates are Democrat Maggie Hassan (Opportunity Score -0.80, poor anti-opportunity) and Republican Don Bolduc (Opportunity Score +4.80, strong pro-opportunity). 

Real Clear Politics rates the race as a Toss-up. 

Here’s our side-by-side comparison of Bolduc and Hassan: 

Here’s a quick roundup of news on that race:

An internal strategy memo from the Hassan campaign says that Bolduc is doing far better than public polls indicate.  Here’s an excerpt:

“Our own internal poling shows that Don Bolduc is quickly consolidating the Republican base and is rapidly making up ground against Senator Hassan.  While many public polls still show Bolduc getting 80 percent of the Republican base, our own polling shows that he will get 90+ percent of Republicans that typically the case for a GOP nominee and is therefore well on his way 10 making this a tied race.”

WGBH says that Don Bolduc is gaining on Maggie Hassan (link)

The most recent poll by Trafalgar has Hassan up by a mere 3 percentage points.  Only 35 percent of respondents to that poll were Republicans.  Therefore, it’s likely that Republicans were underweighted in the sample. 

Further evidence that Bolduc is surging is that Hassan is now refusing to debate with General Bolduc.   That’s not a good look for Hassan and a sign of an incumbent in deep trouble.   

Don Bolduc has a long piece in the Daily Caller with a lot more information (link)

Remember that Donald Trump outperformed the last six New Hampshire polls by 3 percentage points.  If Don Bolduc also outperforms by 3, then the race is dead even right now.   

Lots of GOUSA members and activists are in the New England area and many are watching this race closely. Plan to stay up late on November 8 to watch the results.

Canada’s Pierre Poilievre shows how to attract young people to conservatism. His success could be a model for the GOP.

America’s Republican Party has a big problem.  Republicans do well with older voters.  But Republican politicians go over like a lead balloon with voters under the age of 40. 

Exit polls show that by a two-to-one margin, young people preferred Joe Biden to Donald Trump in the 2020 election.  Democrats captured the support of younger voters by similarly large margins in every election since 2004. 

Because individual party preferences are formed early in one’s adult life and tend to persist, the failure to attract younger voters to the Republican cause bodes ill for the future of the GOP. 

So how can Republicans attract younger voters?  Canada’s new Conservative party leader shows how its done. 

Pierre Poilievre is Canada’s new Conservative Party leader.  Poilievre is a huge hit with young people.  He’s attracting large numbers of young people to his party and to conservative positions. 

Polling by Abacus shows that the Conservative Party is now the most popular choice of Canadians between the ages of 18 and 29. 

So what is Poilievre’s secret to attracting young people to the Conservative Party?

According to the Canada’s National Post, Poilievre’s popularity is doe to the fact that he’s actually addressing issues that young Canadians care about.

“Poilievre’s growing popularity among young voters is likely due to how he’s seized upon an opening by providing coherent messaging that addresses the general state of dissatisfaction and the economic anxieties that are weighing on young Canadians.  That includes continuing frustrations about the inaccessibility of home ownership, income instability and inflation.”

Poilievre offers a mix of populism and libertarianism. 

He blames deficit spending by the ruling Liberals for inflation.   Poilievre is proposing implementing a pay-as-you-go law which requires any new spending to be offset through cuts elsewhere. 

Poilievre seeks to address high housing costs by reducing restrictions on development. 

Poilievre believes that Canada needs to address climate change but wants to reduce CO2 emissions through technological solutions, not by impoverishing Canadians. 

Polievere is a moderate on most social issues.  He supports gay marriage and does not want to make changes to abortion policies in Canada.  In Canada abortions are generally not available after the twenty-third week of pregnancy. 

Poilievre is a strong supporter of free speech.  He’s an opponent of woke authoritarianism in academia, the media and government. 

He supported the right of the Canadian truckers to protest.  He also opposed the use of Canada’s Emergencies Act to crack down on COVID dissenters.   

Does this sound a lot like GOUSA’s agenda?  It should. 

Here at GOUSA we stand for solutions that will make life better for all Americans and especially young Americans.  After all, the early years of adulthood are times of possibility and potential.  And what do you want more than opportunities to realize those possibilities and that potential. 

Interested?  Contact us at the bottom of our home page.

Or chip in a few bucks on our Donate page. 

80 percent of Americans agree on most important issues.  It’s our elites that are causing division.  GOUSA is the voice of the 80 percent.

Polling data shows that Americans are not divided on most issues.  Rather, it is our political and media elites that are divided and are dividing us.

Take the issue of abortion. 

Politicians in the Democratic Party insist on abortion for any reason right up to the point of birth.  Some even want to allow abortions after a baby is born alive. 

On the other side, some politicians in the Republican Party would allow no abortions at all. 

Most Americans disagree with both positions.  Polling going back all the way to 1976 shows that most Americans believe that abortion should only be legal in certain circumstances—generally the first trimester and cases involving the health of the mother.  Moreover, the views of Americans have not changed at all during the past 46 years.

Politicians aren’t getting the message.  GOUSA does.  In our opportunity rating system, we ask the following question:

“Does the politician value life and accept the right to choose early in pregnancy (up to heartbeat or first trimester), and oppose later term abortion (through 2nd & 3rd trimester) except in rare and limited cases, such as risk to the life of the mother?”

You could replace abortion with a range of different issues: welfare, government spending, foreign policy, free speech, education …  The list goes on and on.

The fact that politicians are not listing to the 80 percent majority that want to see reasonable, common-sense solutions to the challenges facing America is why so many of us are disgusted with politics. 

You can see it in the polls.  Most Americans dislike both the Democratic and Republican Parties. 

It’s not that Americans are divided—it’s that the elites are divided, and that the political and media elites are seeking to divide us.

Batya Ungar-Sargon discusses how it is the elites, not Americans, that are divided.  She cites a huge amount of data to back that up.

GOUSA is interested in solutions.  Solutions that unite us rather than divide us.  Solutions that expand freedom and opportunity for all Americans.  Solutions to problems that 80 percent of Americans want solved and solved in a way that is acceptable to 80 percent of Americans.   

A personal reflection on the passing of one of the greats of our time by James Bohn    

This post is not about politics or economics.  Rather, it is about the life qualities that are most important and a person who embodied them. 

I have always admired Elizabeth II for her dedication to duty, decency, the British people and the Commonwealth.  For that reason, I offer a few words of personal reflection for GOUSA readers on her life and the events this month. 

Queen Elizabeth II gave many speeches during her long reign.  However, in my view, her greatest preceded her ascension to the throne in 1952.  The speech was simple and short. The occasion was her twenty-first birthday in 1947.  

In that brief speech, she vowed to dedicate her whole life to the service of the British people and the commonwealth.  Her stirring words are captured in the excerpt below.

Mature beyond her years when she ascended to the throne upon the passing of George VI in 1952, she was a rock that never faltered.  Throughout her long reign, Elizabeth II exhibited a dedication to duty and decency rare among those in the public eye especially in our current times.

There will be many musical tributes to Elizabeth II in the coming weeks.  While many occasions will feature the British national anthem, in my mind, a different song better captures her life and reign. 

That song is I Vow to Thee My Country.  The performance in the excerpt below by the Royal Marines Band. 

Elizabeth maintained her 1947 vow of service until her final day on earth. 

Speaking for GOUSA, every member of our team believes in the importance of duty and service to country and community. That’s why we do what we do.

GOUSA isn’t a for profit entity. We are a volunteer-driven, grass roots organization. We spend our time, treasure and talent to keep GOUSA going because we believe that our message of opportunity will make America a better place to be.

If you’d like to become part of GOUSA or learn more about our organization, just hot the CONTACT tab and send us an email. We’d love to hear from you.

If Biden and the Democrats haven’t already alienated every hard-working American, the cancelation of student loan debt is sure to do it.

In the movie Animal House, Otter, Boon, Pinto and Flounder go out for a night of partying with a brand-new Lincoln Continental that Flounder’s brother Fred lent to him.  They crash the car.  The next day, Otter informs a distraught Founder “You F-ed up, you trusted us.” 

Millions of Americans that bought into Scranton Joe’s working-class shtick surely must feel the same way as Flounder.  So should anyone else that values thrift and personal responsibility. 

Cancelation of student loan debt rewards irresponsible and immoral behavior.  Biden’s plan makes chumps out of Americans that have behaved responsibly and paid off their debts, paid for their education, or decided not to go to college at all.      

As the Washington Examiner succinctly put it: “[Biden] has sent a clear message to everyone who doesn’t have a college degree or who already paid off student loans: Drop dead.”   

If you believed that Joe Biden and the Democrats cared about middle- and working-class Americans, then like Flounder, you f-ed up.  You trusted them.

Cancelation is nothing other than a payoff to the higher education establishment and the purple-haired acolytes of the likes of Elizabeth Warren, AOC, and the rest of the squad with their worthless college degrees.  If their degrees were worth something, instead of braying for the taxpayer to foot the bill, these geniuses could have paid them off from the higher earnings that a college degree typically affords. 

The cancelation of student loans is such bad policy, that both the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal opined against it. 

So have some Democrat bigwigs like Obama economic advisor Jason Furman and Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.  Both Furman and Summers point out that cancelation is just like cutting $10,000 or $20,000 checks to millions of people and thereby stoking inflation.

But most of all, cancelation is unfair by taxing plumbers and truck drivers to bail out college students that mismanaged their careers and finances. 

Granted, most students don’t learn much in college.  There are scores of YouTube interviews with college students that don’t even have a basic grasp of history, economics, mathematics or geography.  

There’s little disagreement that American colleges and universities produce a poor product.  Colleges and universities don’t reward excellence in teaching or hold students to high standards.  But just because these institutions have intellectually defrauded their customers doesn’t mean that taxpayers should be forced to foot the bill.  Rather, it is higher education institutions that need to change.  Canceling student debt does nothing about that.  Instead, it rewards bad behavior.

At GOUSA, we value education.  But we also oppose subsidization of irresponsible behavior.  Our rating system considers where politicians stand on this issue.  We downgrade politicians like Elizabeth Warren, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Joe Biden that thumb their nose at those who manage their finances and careers responsibly. 

Check out politician scores on this website.  We identify those politicians that support greater opportunity for all Americans and those that don’t.  You’ll be glad you did.  So, unlike Flounder, you won’t F-up by trusting them. 

Big news.  General Don Bolduc leads in the New Hampshire primary race for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.  Most voters want incumbent Senator Maggie Hassan replaced. 

Polling by St. Anselm University shows that General Don Bolduc has a big lead over his primary opponents in the primary race for the 2022 Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in New Hampshire. 

Don has a +4.80 opportunity rating.  This is a Strong Pro-Opportunity score. 

This is one of the best opportunities for a Republican pickup in the U.S. Senate.  Maggie Hassan, the Democratic incumbent, is deep underwater with NH voters.  According to St. Anselm, 53 percent of New Hampshire voters want someone new in the seat.

The primary election is on September 13.   

Here’s the link to Don Bolduc’s campaign website. 

General Bolduc has been a good friend to GOUSA.  Don spoke at OppCon 2021 and 2022.   

Here’s Don Bolduc’s appearance on the GOUSA Opportunity Report:

Here’s a panel discussion with Don and John Paul Moran.

As evidenced by his very high pro-opportunity score, Don’s views and priorities are very much in alignment with GOUSA’s agenda.  We wish Don all the best in his race.

It’s so bad for the Democrats that they can’t even get the corporate media to go along with their talking points about the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act.”

This weekend on ABC news host John Karl asked Biden spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre about the so-called Inflation Reduction Act (which will in fact have no effect on inflation).  The exchange didn’t go so well for KJP with Karl characterizing the Act as “almost Orwellian.” 

ABC'S JONATHAN KARL: "Isn't it almost Orwellian? How can you call it the Inflation Reduction Act when the nonpartisan experts say it's not gonna bring inflation down?"

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: "I appreciate the question." pic.twitter.com/tmtFTdsgXx

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 14, 2022

Karl points out that the CBO estimates that the Act would do nothing to lower inflation.  KJP’s sole response is that bill addresses inflation by increasing taxes on corporations and high-income earners.

GOUSA’s response: complete balderdash.

The single largest tax component in the bill is a change to the tax treatment of capital investments that makes it less attractive for manufacturing firms to invest in new plant and equipment.  Less investment means less production by domestic manufacturers which will worsen supply shortages.  Just months ago Biden himself was blaming supply shortages for inflation, now his tax policies are going to make it worse.       

There’s also no connection between tax rates and inflation.  History demonstrates this.  Inflation rates in the 1970s were as high as today.  During the 1970s, the top income tax rate 70 percent compared to 37 percent today.  If raising taxes slows inflation today, why didn’t the even higher tax rates in the 1970s slow inflation then?  The short answer is that raising taxes does nothing to reduce inflation.    

The etymology of so-called Inflation Reduction Act is just one of many examples of Orwellian double-speak coming from the Biden Administration.  This is the same bunch that tried to change the definitions of the words “inflation”, “recession”, “vaccine” and “woman” to suit their political purposes. 

Want straight talk about the economy and other issues? Tune in to GOUSA’s regular podcast updates under the content tab. New podcasts and videos posted on a regular basis.

Author Joel Kotkin provides incisive analyses of the factors that are destroying the middle and working class in America and the Western world.  We recommend looking into his work.  Here at GOUSA we are seeking to reverse those trends by developing an agenda for broad-based opportunity and prosperity for all Americans.

Some of the most interesting ideas and commentary these days is coming from those who have “left the left”.  Joel Kotkin is one of them.  Kotkin considers himself an old-time social democrat.  As such, he’s keenly aware of how the managerial elites have disempowered working- and middle-class Americans.  Kotkin views America and the West as entering into a new feudalism in which society is dominated entirely by a self-perpetuating elite.     

Kotkin offers a biting critique of elitism and the tech oligarchy that controls business, media and government in America today.  He also exposes the lunacy of the Democratic party’s obsession with climate change, race, and gender politics.  These policies, according to Kotkin, are perpetuated by the elites and oligarchs to distract the public from issues of class and inequality of opportunity.   

Below is Kotkin’s appearance with Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster on Triggernometry. 

Another great interview is Kotkin’s with the London Telegraph.

We agree with much of what Kotkin has to say.  A key point in the GOUSA economic opportunity agenda is to break up the finance and tech oligopolies that have too much power in America today.  We believe in competitive processes and free market capitalism.  But these massive companies have come about by employing anti-competitive practices (tech) and government protection (especially finance).  Antitrust is important to restore competition where there is none.  Moreover, Kotkin argues that these companies are stifling debate and discussion—literally cancelling entire classes of people from their platforms—and creating an angrier society. 

We also reject socialist economic planning.  Government economic planning favor the interests of the elites.  This includes enriching the elites financially.  But government economic planning also favors elite ideologies and values over that of the middle and working classes.  Kotkin discusses the left’s climate agenda and how it is being forced on middle and working classes throughout the world without discussion or consideration of dissent. 

We hope you have a chance to delve into Kotkin’s work. 

And if you haven’t yet, consider spending some time looking into the GOUSA agenda in greater depth, checking out our videos, joining in one of our events, or talking with someone on our team. 

We’d love to hear from you.

During my years in school the American history textbooks I studied portrayed American leaders as heroic and American culture as ideal. This was indeed the history of old white men. It was very simple and boring. We memorized dates and events. There were few controversies. According to our history textbooks America’s standing in the world was that of a knight in shining armor.

When I was a senior in high school, I was an ambitious, competitive, overachieving student who ranked in the bottom of the top division. (I love to throw that in!) Studying English literature and writing were my passions. American history was a required course for us college bound students. Because of a course scheduling complication, I was assigned to an American history class with two friends from Division one and 25 students from lower divisions. The teacher was known as the “Duster” from his habit of tossing the chalk board eraser at the heads of students who were not paying attention. He was easy going and likeable. This class looked to be easy sailing.

The first day of class the teacher handed out our textbook. It was a 3-inch-thick book bound in red cloth. The print was small; the pages were thin. Surely this was a mistake. The book was an incongruous choice for this level class. This was not going to be an easy A class for us.

The teacher explained that the book was intended for college freshmen. Furthermore, he said we would discover what our country’s history really was. America was not perfect. What a shock. Our leaders and our people had made mistakes. Our leaders debated each other strenuously. There were many controversies where honest intelligent leaders on both sides made valid points. Some were dedicated to the American ideal and some were not.

He was right. What a revelation it was to learn the truth. This was a fascinating and compelling class. Our teacher did not teach to the lowest denominator among us. He showed us all the respect he had for our collective intelligence by introducing us to the real American history, warts and all.

Although I went on to college still convinced that I was a natural English major (I did enjoy my classes), I later went all in for a master’s degree in American history. My professors were challenging. I was even more enthralled with the rich, tumultuous history of our country. This was every bit as dramatic and captivating to me as any works of fiction I had studied.

Patriotism is born of appreciating the best and worst moments of our history. My high school history teacher as well as later college professors made American history come alive to me in all its human reality. They taught me how to think critically, how to analyze and look at all sides to discern the truth.

I learned that we all bring our own sets of bias to the conversation but knowing that we can still weigh the facts and the issues and come to reasonable conclusions in a fair-minded way. As Tim Scott said, we can pursue “common sense and common ground.”

That is my story. What will your children’s stories be? Would you rather have your children experience the awakening I had to American history, or would you rather have them told to believe the false, damaging “facts” set forth in books like the 1619 project, which have been refuted by Phillip W. Magness in his book, the 1619 project, a critique and Professor Tom Woodward in his book 1776? Or maybe you want them to be told that they are either victims or oppressors as the proponents of Critical Race Theory teach? There is no doubt that our country has racial problems and that there are still people who treat those of different races from their own reprehensively. However, it is not right to tell children what to think, when we can teach them how to think. We can introduce them in age-appropriate ways both the American history we can be proud of and the times that our nation has failed to live up to its ideals. We can have an open and honest discussion and include in it our great hope and confidence in our children that they and their generation will achieve the improvements for all Americans that our generation has not yet accomplished.

From the College Dems Twitter page

Left-wing progressives don’t care for America.  But it is left-wing progressives that are in charge of all of our major institutions.  How crazy is it that our country is governed by people who don’t care for it?

A new poll by Echelon insights asks penetrating questions about how the left and the right view America and current issues.  The results show that progressives, the people who control the media, administrative government, academia, K-12 education, Hollywood, big tech and much of big business have views that sharply diverge from the rest of America. 

You can find poll crosstabs here.  The Liberal Patriot Substack provides a good summary—read the whole thing.  I’ve excerpted some parts of Liberal Patriot’s post below but keep reading for things that I’ve also pulled out of the poll.  Remember, it is strong progressives that are in charge of all of the institutions I’ve listed above.

“The crosstabs provided by Echelon allow for a comparison of strong progressives’ basic political views with those of Hispanic and working class voters. Here are some examples:

1. America is not the greatest country in the world vs. America is the greatest country in the world. By 66 percent to 28 percent, strong progressives say America is not the greatest country in the world. By 70-23, Hispanics say the reverse and working class voters as a whole concur by 69-23.

2. Racism is built into our society, including into its policies and institutions vs. Racism comes from individuals who hold racist views, not from our society and institutions. Strong progressives are very, very sure of America’s systemic racism, endorsing the first statement by an amazing 94-6 margin. But Hispanics disagree, endorsing the second statement that racism comes from individuals by 58-36, as do working class voters by 57-33.“

Here are some other details from the poll I’ve pulled out:

Progressives are now the war party.  Progressives are the most likely to support going to war with Russia and involvement in wars overseas.  Noam Chomsky call your office.

77 percent of strong progressives approve of Biden’s handling of the economy versus 37 percent of all voters

88 percent of strong progressives claim that hard work is not the route to getting ahead in America whereas 54 percent of all Americans view hard work as the path to success.  Remember that it is the strong progressives that control K-12 and higher education.      

Strong progressives are the least likely of any group to name the economy or inflation as an issue facing the country.  Likely because many of them are in government jobs or on the dole and therefore are immune from economic shocks and get automatic cost of living adjustments. 

66 percent of strong progressives want transgender athletes to play on teams other than that of their birth gender.  Only 24 percent of all voters do.

In summary, what the poll shows is that we have a class of people that control the major institutions of this country that do not believe in American greatness, believe that America is a racist nation, don’t believe in hard work as the route to success, and champion a social agenda that most Americans reject. 

Instead of the progressive agenda of Job Biden and the elites, we at GO-USA champion an American agenda. 

We believe that this is the greatest nation on the face of the earth, we believe in individual liberty and the free market system, and we believe in governance by the people, not the elite few.

If you believe as we do, won’t you chip in to help us spread our message and save America? Go here to make a donation to GO-USA.

GOUSA believes that the role of government is to create greater opportunity for all Americans.  Unfortunately, Washington and the Biden Administration is hurting, not helping the average American.  That needs to change.

A new poll from Monmouth University shows that most Americans believe that the actions of the federal government are hurting them financially.   

Overall 57 percent of Americans said that the actions of the federal government are hurting them, only 8 percent say that the government has helped.  The percentage of Americans viewing the federal government as hurtful is a record high since Monmouth began asking the question in January 2015.

A record 88 percent of Americans say that the country is on the wrong track—also a record high–versus 10 percent who say America is on the right track. 

Americans also view Biden’s policies as primarily benefitting the rich (more about that below).   Only 41 percent say that middle class families have benefitted a lot or a little from Biden’s policies and 54 percent say that the middle class hasn’t benefitted at all.   

In contrast, under Trump, 65 percent said that the middle class benefitted a lot or a little versus 32 percent who said that the middle class didn’t benefit at all.   

Clearly Trump’s policies were better for the middle class whereas Biden’s policies benefit the elites at the expense of the working class.  Indeed, the Biden Administration seems intent on waging a class war against middle- and working-class Americans. 

The results of the Monmouth poll should be no surprise to anyone.  The ways that the Biden Administration is harming Americans is long.  To name just a few:

• Rampant inflation that is decimating the savings and earnings of American families
• Mass illegal immigration that drives down wages for working Americans and especially blacks
• The promotion of critical race theory and racialist policies that further divide us
• Unrealistic energy policies that are destroying American jobs and emptying our wallets

GOUSA offers an alternative.  Our Five Points of Opportunity are a guiding star for how to make America the Land of Opportunity again. 

On other parts of this website, check out the Five Points of Opportunity and the OppScore system for rating politicians.

And if you can, chip in a few bucks to help GOUSA spread our message.

H.R.350 would empower Homeland Security and Justice with new authority to monitor domestic terrorism with heavy emphasis on “white supremacists” a.k.a. “Trump Supporters”.

Just what we need, more authority and power to federal law enforcement to surveil Americans and monitor their speech on the road to censorship. Law enforcement is already supposed to be tracking domestic terrorists of all shades. Why do we need this bill? Sen. Josh Hawley described this bill, “It’s like the disinformation board on steroids. Another way to look at is the Patriot Act for American citizens”. Hawley could have said, just equally correctly, it’s an Anti-America Act for true Patriots. All Democrats voted for the bill. All Republicans voted against the bill except one; you guessed it, Adam Kinzinger. I’m surprised Liz Cheney didn’t follow suit. It passed the House May 18th, 2022.

In my mind this is just code word for cracking down on free speech and political speech; particularly anybody who speaks out against the government, against this illegal immigration invasion, against Biden’s policies, their overreach and failures or claims the 2020 election was rigged and/or stolen. It is just a smoke screen to go after conservative activist in the guise of domestic terrorists. When you listen to the Democrats who support this bill they strongly imply a relationship between the recent Buffalo massacre and the January 6th so-called “insurrection” (again, Trump supporters).

This bill must not pass the Senate! Any Congressman who voted for it will definitely get a big fat negative on the first amendment category of the personal opportunity section of the GOUSA rating system.

Hard to tell if the management of Disney Corp. is more dopey or goofy but they certainly are woke and fast going broke.  A new poll finds that only 33 percent of Americans have a favorable view of the entertainment giant.

We blogged in April about the precipitous decline in Disney’s stock price after management of the entertainment giant, long known for wholesome family entertainment, decided that it was a good idea for schools to provide instruction in adult topics to kindergarteners. 

Or to put it another way, while Disney movies may contain warnings like Parental Guidance (PG), Disney has no tolerance for parental guidance, that is parental involvement, when it comes to classroom instruction.

This, of course, is just the latest in the company’s campaign of woke activism.  But now it has caught up with them.  The favorability ratings of Disney have collapsed.  A new NBC Poll shows that only 33 percent of Americans have a favorable view of Disney Corp while 30 percent have an unfavorable view of the company.  That’s a +3 percent favorability rating.

Contrast that with Disney’s ratings just last year.  A poll last year found that Disney was viewed favorably by 77 percent of American adults versus just 21 percent with an unfavorable view of the company.  That’s a +56 percent favorability rating.

The 44 percent decline in the company’s favorability is huge.  However, the real story is even worse.   

None of these polls break out Disney’s ratings among parents versus non-parents.  Parents and their kids tend to be major consumers of Disney’s products.  Parents tend to be more conservative on most issues than non-parents.  As a result, it is reasonable to assume that Disney’s approval ratings among parents are even worse than the dismal 33 percent in the NBC poll. 

Woke activism is destroying Disney’s reputation among its core customer base. 

Another measure of how badly Disney’s wore management has tarnished the company’s reputation is to compare Disney’s +3 favorability rating with other industries and companies.

According to Gallup, Disney Corp is less popular than banks (+14 favorability) or electric and gas utilities (+6) and only slightly more popular than airlines (+1) or attorneys (-4).  As for the latter, when your management takes your company’s image from that of an American cultural icon to that of Dewey Cheatem and Howe Attorneys at Law, you have a very big problem.   

By going woke, Disney management has changed the company’s image from as pure and good as Snow White to a company as creepy and conniving as the Evil Queen.  Walt Disney would have been horrified at what his company has become.  One wonders if the current management even cares. 

The GOUSA Personal Opportunity Message by Jim Avallon

On May 6^th I read in the Epoch Times that “The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on May 5 that it will restrict the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to adults who can’t receive mRNA vaccines, because of the risk of potentially life-threatening side effects with the J&J shot.”  FDA Restricts J&J’s COVID-19 Vaccine Over Risk of Blood Clots (theepochtimes.com). It seems the J&J shot can cause blood clots soon after the inoculation. 

What!  Now they tell us.  Isn’t this the same FDA that drilled into us that these so-called vaccines were safe and effective?  Isn’t this the same FDA that wanted people to lose their jobs, their likelihoods, if they didn’t get the experimental jab; that wanted people to be restricted from restaurants, sports events etc. if one didn’t get the never-before-used technology jab?  All the while ignoring the chorus of doctors, physicians and ordinary informed people who were saying that these vaccines were rushed to market and were not proven safe AND ignoring the 1947 Nuremburg Code The Nuremberg Code (cirp.org) which lays down certain basic principles for human experimentation to satisfy moral, ethical and legal concepts; emphasizing the voluntary consent of the human subject.  These COVID collaborators should be brought to justice as in 1947.

NOW I read in an April 26, 2022 JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association) infectious disease investigation report that “….the unadjusted incidence rate of confirmed GBS (Guillain-Barre Syndrome) in the 1 to 21 days after receiving the Ad.26.COV2.S (Janssen) vaccine was 32.4 per 100 000 person-years, which was significantly higher than the background rate of GBS.   Incidence of Guillain-Barré Syndrome After COVID-19 Vaccination in the Vaccine Safety Datalink | Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology | JAMA Network Open | JAMA Network. From personal experience , in the 1990’s my father had GBS and 90% of his body was paralyzed for two to three weeks.   He could have died but even after recovery he never really felt his feet again.  It was not pretty. 

Stay tuned, it ain’t over yet and it will not be exclusively the J&J inoculation (there is a reason Iceland, Sweden, Denmark and Finland have restricted the Moderna inoculation for potential side effects)  Iceland Joins Nordic Peers in Halting Moderna (MRNA) Covid Vaccinations – Bloomberg). 

All I can say is that we need the 1^st amendment category of GOUSA’s Personal Opportunity rating more than ever.  It doesn’t specifically say “Medical Freedom” but it should.  Religious Freedom and privacy are close enough.

It’s hard to find a major newspaper more in the tank for the Democratic Party than the Boston Globe but even they acknowledge less than half of Massachusetts voters approve of Joe Biden.

Here’s the Globe’s headline: “In 2020, Biden was a political juggernaut in Massachusetts. A new poll shows voters have soured on him. A lot.”

The article acknowledges that Biden’s approval is tanking even in Massachusetts.  From the article:   

“In March 2020, President Biden swept through Massachusetts’ Democratic primary with a come-from-behind Super Tuesday victory. He later topped Donald Trump by 33 ½ percentage points here, his second-largest margin of victory in November. Few places lean more Democratic than Massachusetts, according to political forecasters.  But even in this deep blue stronghold, Biden has fallen hard.  Just 46 percent of registered Massachusetts voters say they approve of the job Biden is doing as president, with about the same proportion giving him a thumbs down, according to a new Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll.”

Biden’s approval among Massachusetts Democrats is only 75 percent. 

You’d have to search pretty hard to find a news outlet that more closely hews to the Democratic line than the Boston Globe.  The Los Angeles Times and Minneapolis Star Tribune come to mind.  But the list is pretty short.

If even the Boston Globe acknowledges that voters dislike the job that Biden is doing, he must be doing a very, very bad job. 

Of course, rather than fix things in the country, Democrats look to fix the results of elections. 

From the comments is a post that typifies Massachusetts Democrat thinking: 

SAD04 (5/01/22 – 3:27PM) “I don’t think the polls capture what has happened. Democratic voters want Trump indicted. They want democracy restored. They want DC statehood. They want more legislation–which Manchin and Sinema have blocked. Voting rights guaranteed. They don’t want to live under the threat of a GOP return.”

So according to this line of thinking the “restoration of democracy” means one party control (i.e., no “threat of GOP return”).  That’s the authoritarian mindset that pervades the modern Democratic Party.  It is the same mindset that gave rise to the Orwellian Disinformation Governance Board or pushes for more censorship in social media.       

If Democrats and Joe Biden did what the voters want, their approval level would rise, plain and simple.  The reason that the public is dissatisfied with their performance is that they are not doing what is in the public interest. 

GOUSA champions opportunity for all Americans.  The factors that we use to rate politicians have broad, majority support among the American people.  We are working hard to advance our American opportunity agenda.

If you haven’t yet, please stop by our Donations page and chip in a bit to help our efforts.  Your help is much appreciated.

GOUSA stands for free market capitalism. But capitalism is not just a driver of economic opportunity. It is an important driver of national opportunity and security too.

At the outset of the Russia-Ukraine conflict one would have thought that Russia would simply roll over Ukraine.  The Biden Administration predicted that Kyiv would fall in three days. 

That didn’t happen.  Why?  There are several reasons but one of them is the poor quality of Russian military hardware.    

Russia has a huge arsenal of weapons.  Russia has the largest fleet of tanks and armored vehicles in the world.  Russia’s air force has 3,800 planes, second only to the USAF.  

Moreover, a major focus of the Putin regime has been to modernize the Russian military.  Russia spends about 5 percent of its GDP on the military compared to about 3 percent in the U.S.

So why isn’t Russia kicking ass in the Ukraine?  A major factor is that Russian military hardware sucks.

As explained in the video below the Russian military-industrial complex consists of companies that are state-run or owned by Putin cronies.  Such firms have little incentive to innovate and there are few controls on production quality.

For instance, in the West there are at least three American companies that compete to produce fighter jets (Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman) plus several in Western Europe.  In Russia, there is only one, United Aircraft Group, which is part of RosTec, a state-owned firm.   In Russia there is no competition among aircraft manufacturers, little incentive for innovation or quality control, or need to keep costs down.

Corruption is a big factor too.  The higher the price of Russia arms, the more cash available to Putin’s cronies. How much of Russia’s defense budget gets diverted into the pockets of Putin’s allies is anyone’s guess.

As a result, Russian troops are supplied with guns that jam, missiles that don’t fire properly, and tanks that break down.  That reduces the combat effectiveness and morale of Russian units in the field.   

And it’s not just military hardware.  Companies that supply food, clothing and other materials for Russian soldiers are also either state owned or controlled Putin’s cronies.  That’s one of the reasons for the widespread reports of logistics failures such as the delivery of spoiled food to frontline troops.

This is not to excuse the existence of the revolving door between Washington politicians and bureaucrats and America defense firms.  However, the Russians have taken the revolving door to another level. 

The failures of the Russian military in the Ukraine war provides the world with a clear example of how capitalism enhances national strength. 

[Skip to 1:55 to avoid the message from the sponsor.] 

Like the Evil Queen in Snow White, Disney stock has fallen off a cliff as parents boycott the entertainment giant.   Good.

The chart below shows the change in the price of Disney stock versus the Dow Jones Industrial Average.  Over the past year the value of Disney stock has fallen by more than a third while the market as a whole is down just a little bit.

The decline has been particularly rapid since Disney came out for the sexualization of young children by opposing HB 1557. 

HB 1557 was signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis on March 28.  Between May 28 to April 22 the market value of Disney Corp has fallen by $34 billion.     

HB 1557 has been labeled by opponents as the “don’t say gay bill”.  That is a gross mischaracterization of HB 1557.  HB 1557 merely states the following:

“Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards,”

Disney’s action sparked a boycott by parents concerned that the company has “surrendered to the woke mob” and the revocation of Disney’s special development privileges in Florida.     

From our vantage point, rather than “surrendering to the woke mob”, it looks to us that Disney is leading the work mob. 

And we applaud Governor DeSantis for abolishing the special treatment of a politically-connected corporation.  Disney had been getting special through the Reedy Creek Improvement District since 1967.  Ending corporate welfare is always a good thing woke or not.       

Disney may not have unveiled their new Sodom and Gomorrah attraction quite yet (OK, that’s satire from the Babylon Bee) but it is no longer the provider of wholesome family entertainment that it was under founder Walt Disney.

Walt Disney himself once said “our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children.”  It is a shame that modern Disney no longer wants children to be children. 

Your Monday Morning Personal Opportunity Update from Jim Avallon

Last week a Federal judge in Florida ordered the end of the federal mask mandate for airline, train and bus passengers; Health Freedom Defense Fund v. Biden.  Hans von Spakovsky, Manager, Election Law Reform Initiative and Senior Legal Fellow at The Heritage Foundation explains in Heritage’s The Daily Signal interesting details of this order  https://www.dailysignal.com/2022/04/21/biden-administration-should-lose-its-mask-mandate-appeal/.   On a side note, Hans was on a well-attended GOUSA Zoom event last year discussing primarily the disastrous HR1 bill.

Particularly surprising in Hans’s article is that the CDC relied on a 1944 Public Health Service Act to justify its Feb. 3rd, 2021 sweeping authority to require masks on all public transportation, in airports and train stations.  This 1944 Act gives the CDC authority to require “inspection, fumigation, disinfection, sanitation, pest extermination, destruction of animals or articles found to be so infected or contaminated as to be sources of dangerous infection to human beings, and other measures as in the (CDC’s) judgement may be necessary.”  The CDC argued that the mask mandate falls with “sanitation” or “other measures” of the statute.  However, the Federal judge determined that “sanitation” means “active cleaning” and is limited to cleaning “property”.  Wearing a mask means nothing.

In addition to violating the 1944 Public Health Service Act, the Federal judge also found that the CDC violated the Administrative Procedure Act requiring the public to be given the opportunity to review and comment on a proposed regulation.  The CDC completely ignored this.

Hans explains more of the details of the above violations in the attached article (including more violations of the Administrative Service Act) but isn’t it nice to know that all this time that we were suffering under these mask mandates these very mandates were ILLEGAL.  AND, by the way, doesn’t this ruling call into question all the mask mandates in other public places or places frequented by the public.   The last I heard from friends and acquaintances was that every time they questioned or challenged a mask mandate in a Post Office, Registry or even at a Mall, the defending reference was always the almighty, and as it appears now, above-the -law, CDC.   

I know the unconstitutionality of the mask mandates is a problematic discussion, especially if one is not a lawyer and especially when it comes to areas directly under Federal jurisdiction.  However, it seems that the strongest argument against would fall under one’s personal freedom and religious assembly and privacy rights.   That is why the 1^st amendment rating under GOUSA Personal Opportunity rating’s category is so important when considering political candidates.

Land of the free? Not so much when it comes to economic policy. The most recent issue of the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom provides hard evidence of how the Biden Administration has moved America towards a more socialistic economy. 

The Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom is a widely recognized measure of where national economies fall on a scale between free market capitalism and authoritarian socialism.  In Biden’s first year, economic freedom in the United States hit an all-time low. 

Heritage Foundation has compiled the index since 1995.  Heritage considers twelve different aspects of national economies in coming up with an overall index.  Countries are ranked from most free (#1 Singapore) to least free (#177 North Korea).

In the 2022 issue of the index, the United States freedom score and ranking are at an all-time low.  The United States is now ranked as the 25^th freest economy in the world.  According to Heritage, the U.S. economy is now less market-oriented than that of Germany, Canada or the United Kingdom as well as many smaller advanced and developing countries.      

In 2012, America was ranked as the 10^th freest economy in the world.

America’s ranking has fallen dramatically over the last decade due to the growth of government spending, increased business and labor regulation, and the growth of trade protectionism.  The authors write:

Driven lower by a sharp decrease in its fiscal health score, the U.S. has recorded a 3.0-point overall loss of economic freedom since 2017 and has fallen from the upper half to the lower half of the “Mostly Free” category. Business freedom and rule of law are strong, but the economy is being crushed by reckless government overspending.

America’s movement away from free market capitalism means less economic opportunities for all Americans.  Kevin Roberts, the CEO of the Heritage Foundation, lays out a disturbing picture of what the decline of economic freedom means for the future of the United States:  

Especially for Americans like me who have benefitted from the legacy of a society justly called the “land of the free,” this year’s Index of Economic Freedom paints a disturbing picture. The startling decline of America’s economic freedom is serious cause for alarm. Policymakers in Washington, DC, and around the globe must understand that simply spending their way back to prosperity always has failed and will continue to fail.

GOUSA believes that free market capitalism, not socialism, is the path to greater opportunity and prosperity.  Our unique rating system identifies those politicians that believe in and are advancing free market economic policies and those who are pushing socialism. 

To learn more about our economic opportunity rating system and see the economic opportunity ratings for individual politicians, visit our OppScore rating pages here, here and here.  

Each individual American state established much of their COVID policy and we are better for it.

I’m part of an e-mail report “COFFEE&COVID” by Jeff Childers and last week Jeff referenced an article in the New York Times by Li Yuan, 4-13-22 : ”China’s ‘Zero-Covid’ Mess Proves Autocracy Hurts Everyone”.  China’s ‘Zero Covid’ Mess Proves Autocracy Hurts Everyone – The New York Times (nytimes.com) The article begins by describing China’s great sparrow extermination of 1958, after Chairman Mao blamed wild sparrows for his failing agricultural policy, declared the hapless birds to be pests, and called for up to 2 billion birds to be killed nationwide. The near extinction of Chinese sparrows predictably led to insect infestations, which ruined crops and contributed to the Great Famine that starved tens of millions of Chinese to death in the next three years. That’s how central planning “works.”

Although I’m by no means a great fan of our COVID policy in the U.S., it sure could have been worse if it was completely centrally planned from Washington, resulting in something on the order of Chairman Mao’s sparrow extermination results……………….or for that matter China’s present day COVID policy and the ~25million inhabitants of Shanghai locked in apartments (now in its 3^rd week) with people screaming out of their windows (some say jumping out of their windows) struggling to get food.  Newly infected people are being moved to crowded and dirty quarantine centers, animals put down, people denied medical services while drones circle the city monitoring.  I could go on. https://youtu.be/6byyZA4MPyU, https://youtu.be/KNseignRiC8 

This is why the GOUSA 10^th amendment rating’s category under Personal Opportunity is so critical because it essentially rates a politician’s affinity for central planning.  Thank God we have governors like DeSantis and Abbott who can counter or try to counter the failed central policies of the Swamp!   

GOUSA’s Economic Opportunity Tuesday Update

Inflation is overwhelming wage increases among low-income Americans.  The inflationary policies from the Biden Administration’s spending binge and the endless money printing by the Federal Reserve is increasing income inequality in America.

That is, while Biden and the Federal Reserve claim to be concerned with income inequality, their policies are having the exact opposite effect—making poor Americans poorer. 

Professor Scott Galloway from New York University explains.

The charts in the WaPo story and the video use the official rate of inflation which excludes a lot of things that Americans buy. Measured properly, the inflation rate is much higher and real wage gains lower than that reported by the government.

GO-USA stands for economic policies that benefit all Americans. 

America needs policies that promote lasting prosperity.  That means reducing regulation and making the tax code more equitable so that businesses and entrepreneurs can thrive. 

Instead, the Biden Administration and the Federal Reserve are pushing deficit spending and money creation.   

The only way we can address this and fix the problem is to elect better leaders in government – and throw out our failed, corrupt legislators – the reason why we created the OppScore at GOUSA.   Please support our mission so we can continue to serve you, by donating today.

GOUSA Personal Opportunity Monday Message by Jim Avallon

Dr. Christiane Northrup from Falmouth, ME is a leading authority on women’s health and wellness.  In the past few pandemic years she has been a strong, outspoken advocate for health and treatment opportunities and against the COVID inoculations including the way COVID has been managed. 

Last Saturday she spoke at the New Hampshire Freedom March & Rally in front of the New Hampshire State House in Concord.  It was pouring rain while she was speaking but she got her points across. 

One of her more interesting comments was that she knows three doctors in Maine who are losing their licenses in that state for prescribing Ivermectin yet across the border in NH you can get it over the counter. https://www.bitchute.com/video/hOJP0Q1048L9  Well in New Hampshire not yet, but almost.  

Recently passed in the NH House is House Bill 1022 which authorizes licensed pharmacists following a “standing order” from a physician or advanced practice registered nurse to dispense ivermectin to persons in NH without a prior prescription and it is going before the NH Senate this Wednesday.  NH HB1022 | 2022 | Regular Session | LegiScan

There are more legalistic words to this bill, but it will basically allow people to get Ivermectin over the counter as Northrup said……while it is made criminal just across the border in Maine.  

It sounds like the politicians in Maine need a good dose of the GOUSA rating system, particularly in the Personal Opportunity section of the 1^st Amendment and privacy.

The latest Quinnipiac poll shows Joe Biden’s approval ratings continue to tank among the Millennials and Generation Z.  But will the GOP be able to capitalize on young voter dissatisfaction?

We’ve been blogging about the golden — or shall we say GRAND — opportunity that Republicans have to appeal to young voters given the myriad of failures of the Biden Administration. See our blog here and here.

Now yet another poll shows that young Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of Joe Biden. The latest is from Quinnipiac.

Quinnipiac surveyed 1,462 adults from March 24-28, 2022.

According to the survey, only 27 percent of Americans aged 18-34 approve of the way Joe Biden is handing his job.  This compares to 36 percent for all Americans.

Biden’s overall 36 percent is dismal.  However, for several decades, Democrats have depended on the votes of young voters to offset the Republican edge among voters age 45 and over.  That edge has gone away. 

In the 2020 election, Biden received 60 percent among young voters.  Based on the results of the Quinnipiac survey, half of the young people that voted for Biden in 2020 do not approve of his performance in office. 

Nor do young voters view Biden as a strong leader when it comes to his handling of the crisis in Ukraine.  When asked whether Biden has demonstrated strong leadership in his dealings with other NATO nations in the response to the invasion, only 34 percent of young people view Biden as a strong leader.  

The collapse in youth support for Biden provides the GOP with a golden opportunity to make deep inroads with rising generations

In 1980 and 1984, Ronald Reagan won the hearts and minds of millions of young Americans.  But since that time, young voters have increasingly favored Democrats. 

Republicans should take a page from the Reagan playbook.  Young voters then were attracted to his message of economic opportunity, growth, optimism and a strong America.  We believe that young people would be attracted to the same message today. 

GOUSA’s message today echoes that of Ronald Reagan.  We believe that young people are looking for a future of opportunity and freedom.  And we are developing policies that will move America in that direction.   

Biden’s incoherence on Ukraine is creating the most dangerous situation since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Just last week the war in Ukraine looked like it was nearing a conclusion.  Reports suggested that Russian leaders were looking to change their objectives from conquering the entire country to merely asserting independence of portions inhabited by Russian-speaking people. 

Ukraine was looking for a settlement as well.

Then along came Joe Biden.

Instead of looking to end the conflict, Biden escalated pushing for regime change in Russia.  

At minimum Biden handed Putin a propaganda victory allowing him to claim that any anti-regime activities are the result of plots by Washington or London.

At worst, Biden set the stage for World War III.

Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed as White House staff quickly walked back Biden’s reckless remarks. 

This underscores the dangers that arise from a President that lacks judgment, self-control and possibly full control of his faculties.    

This is not the first time that Biden’s lack of leadership has put the world in danger.

Biden’s policies toward the Ukraine have been incoherent from the start.

Biden began with appeasement telling Putin that “minor incursions” into Ukraine were acceptable.

Next came the defeatism.  Biden fomented panic by telling the Ukrainians that Kyiv would fall “within 72 hours” of a Russian attack.  It didn’t.    

Continuing to push defeatism, Biden the offered to extract President Zelensky from Kyiv.  Zelensky’s response “I need ammo, not a ride” will no doubt go down in military history along with that of General Anthony “Nuts” McAuliffe’s response to the Germans at the siege of Bastogne. 

Now Biden has become the ultimate war hawk claiming that the United States would be ready to respond by using chemical weapons, suggesting that U.S. troops would soon be in Ukraine, and telling the world that the United States was seeking regime change in Russia.      

In each case the White House had to walk back Biden’s remarks. 

During World War II there was a poster that read “loose lips sink ships”. 

Loose lips in a conflict between two nuclear-armed superpowers is far worse. 

In the 2020, the corporate media, big tech, and the Democratic party told the American people that the adults were going to be in charge.

It’s looking more like the Keystone Cops.  

“We may be the future decision makers, but most of us aren’t leaders” writes Julie Hartman in the Wall Street Journal

College students have de minimis risk from COVID.  Yet universities have imposed irrational and draconian mask and vaccination policies on students with harsh consequences for those who do not obey, or even speak up, against administration edicts.

One Yale student likened life on campus to that of a “surveillance state.”  At the University of Chicago students were forced to sign a “Required COVID-19 Attestation” in direct contradiction to the school’s academic freedom policies. 

Hartman writes that all this insanity has infantilized her generation of college students: 

More concerning than the administration’s heavy-handedness has been the zombielike response of the student body. I ask my friends, “Why do young, fully vaccinated students continue to tolerate these irrational Covid restrictions?” While many of my peers acknowledge the excess, they shrug it off. The prevailing mood on campus is resignation, learned helplessness and reluctance to dissent.

These policies have also empowered groups of students to act as self-appointed enforcers who use COVID policies to bludgeon their fellow students.   

There is a smaller group at Harvard that apparently find pleasure in these restrictions. These students will chastise you for not wearing a mask correctly and called one of my brave peers who publicly denounced Harvard’s Covid restrictions a “eugenicist” because he supposedly showed insufficient sensitivity to immunocompromised people. They love Covid for the moral high ground it gives them to condescend to and control others.

Red Guards in training?  Don’t be so quick to dismiss.  The unfortunate truth is that events in early life, including those during the college experience, have an important role in forming our outlook and behaviors in later life. 

For many, that means sheepish, unquestioning adherence to edicts of the elites no matter how silly or irrational. 

For others, that means becoming hectoring, humorless bureaucrats, politicians and bosses. 

What does that mean for America?  As Hartman puts it: “My peers and I are often told that we are the future leaders of America. We may be the future decision makers, but most of us aren’t leaders. The inability of Harvard students to question or oppose these irrational bureaucratic excesses bodes ill for our ability to meet future challenges.”

Indeed.

The United States Senate voted 57-40 end federal mask mandates on airplanes and public transit. Eight Democrats voted with Republicans.

Mitt Romney (R-Establishment) was the only Republican to vote against the measure.

However, as reported by Roll Call (below) it may not pass the House and the White House states that it will follow The Science (which apparently says that 5 year-olds need to wear masks on the playground but it’s OK for the 79 year-old Joe Biden to stand next to the 81 year-old Nancy Pelosi for 90 minutes at the State of the Union Address) and veto the measure.

Despite the defection of eight Democrats — Sens. Jon Tester of Montana, Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly of Arizona, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire all voted to oppose the mandate — the resolution’s future is uncertain in the House. President Joe Biden has vowed to veto if it passes there, with the White House saying “the determination of the timeline and circumstances under which masks should be required in these settings should be guided by science, not politics.”

Kelly, Bennet, Hassan and Cortez Masto are up for reelection this fall.

Florida Senator Rick Scott spoke about his Rescue America plan at CPAC.  Most of the elements of his plan are part of the GOUSA agenda.  What do you think of Senator Scott’s plan?

Senator Scott and his team have dug into the details and came up with an eleven point plan agenda for the Republican party should it take control of one or both houses of Congress in 2022. 

This seeks to avoid the problem Republicans had in 2017 when, after Donald Trump’s victory, Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell had no legislative agenda in place. 

You can download a copy of Rick Scott’s plan at this link. 

Senator Scott’s plan in comprehensive.  Like the five points of opportunity framework that we use here at GOUSA, Senator Scott’s plan addresses most important aspects of American life—the economy, defense, national sovereignty, the culture, public safety, and individual freedom.

And like GOUSA’s agenda, most elements of Senator Scott’s plan are favored by the American people.

The Morning Consult and Politico asked Americans whether they favored major elements of senator Scott’s plan.  Here are the results:

Senator Scott’s plan is modeled after Newt Gingrich’s 1994 Contract with America.  Newt himself has endorsed Senator Scott’s Rescue Plan. 

Regardless of whether you like the plan or not or take issue with individual plan components, Senator Scott is to be congratulated for putting his ideas out there for public debate.  We need more politicians who like Senator Scott are leaders, not laggards, in addressing the challenges facing our country. 

Professor Stephen Kotkin makes the case that America needs an opportunity party.  We agree 100 percent. 

In the most recent episode of Uncommon Knowledge, Peter Robinson of the Hoover Institution asks Princeton University History Professor Stephen Kotkin about his love for the United States.  

Kotkin offers an eloquent statement as to why he loves this country and why his love is not because he lives here but what the United States gave him and stands for.  Kotkin discusses the opportunities that the United States has given him to develop himself and succeed.

He concludes by stating “there should be a party in this country called the American Opportunity Party” so that every young person has the opportunity to develop him or herself to the fullest.

That’s exactly what we believe here at GOUSA.  We need an opportunity party.  A Grand Opportunity Party.

And here at GOUSA we are working every day to build one. 

An excerpt from the conversation with Stephen Kotkin appears below. 

You can watch the full interview on the Hoover Institution’s website.  Watch the whole thing.  Highly recommended.    

Brendan O’Neill writes in Spiked Online on how GoFundMe’s withholding of millions of dollars raised to support the Canadian truckers epitomizes elite disdain for the working class.    

Here’s an excerpt (but read the whole thing):

“GoFundMe’s deprivation of funds to the truckers protesting against Canada’s vaccine rules is, to my mind, one of the most egregious and anti-democratic acts yet carried out by the California-based elites who oversee the World Wide Web. These truckers, such essential workers, are revolting against Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s introduction of a new rule earlier this month stipulating that truckers who cross the Canada-US border will need to be vaccinated or else go into quarantine after every trip. This is a mad demand.  It would severely undermine some truckers’ ability to earn a living.  So truckers have risen up. They drove their vast rigs across Canada in what came to be known as the Freedom Convoy before stopping in the capital Ottawa where they have been blocking roads and causing fainting fits among middle-class liberals who cannot understand why these oiks won’t just carry on dropping off sacks of kale to the local Whole Foods and stop going on about their pesky rights.

There has been an outpouring of support for the truckers.  Canadians and Americans tired of corona-authoritarianism are cheering the truckers for honking a huge collective horn at the elite consensus on Covid.  Despite the best efforts of woke politicians and columnists to depict the truckers as QAnon on wheels, as a motorized version of Mussolini’s March on Rome, many people know that in truth they are decent working people who simply object to the state making their lives that bit harder. People also know that the woke set’s attempts to delegitimize the Freedom Convoy by flagging up ‘far-right’ comments made by a tiny handful of the truckers is a tactic as old as capitalism itself.  Elite opponents of working-class organization have always used smear and innuendo to try to nullify the throng. Seeing this smear campaign for what it is, lots of folk decided to give the truckers a few bucks. But GoFundMe had other ideas.“

GOUSA stands for limiting the power of big tech monopolies and the Silicon Valley oligarchs.  We stand for opportunity for all.  We believe in free speech and free expression and oppose the oppression of the powerless by the powerful.

Unfortunately, most members of Congress and the federal bureaucracy have been captured by big tech companies through their money, connections and the prospect of lucrative revolving door employment.

GOUSA’s is evaluating whether or not members of Congress stand for or against the big tech monopolies.  Our rating system identifies those members who are pro-opportunity and pro-working class.  To learn more about our rating system go here. 

More here from Glenn Reynolds in the New York Post.

Note: Oik is British derogatory slang for a person regarded as inferior, ignorant, ill-educated, or lower-class.

GOUSA supports a clean environment.  However, the green movement as it currently stands is rife with lies and elitism.  The latest comes from the EU.

The European Union is working on a new carbon tax plan.  According to reports, yachts are exempt from the tax.

How many times have you heard this one before?  Elites force the little people to sacrifice for the environment while the super rich go on with their polluting ways. 

According to EU regulations, ships that move products for the common man will have to pay the carbon tax.  Fat-cat yachters will be exempt.

Last year the EU slapped a carbon tax on jet fuel.  The tax applies to passenger and cargo aircraft.  If you guessed that the tax exempted fuel for private jets you are right. 

The yachts, luxury cars, homes, and private jets of the superrich elites produce more carbon emissions than entire countries.    

According to one study, the private jet fleet in the United States alone produces twice as much carbon emissions as the entire nation of Burundi. 

Climate czar John Kerry could not be reached for comment.  BTW, this is the same John Kerry whom as a Massachusetts politicians docked his $7 million yacht in Rhode Island to avoid Massachusetts taxes. 

Some things never change. 

One can differ on whether climate change is serious or not.

But one cannot ignore the hypocrisy of those who lecture everyday Americans on our carbon footprint while living lifestyles that would put the most self-indulgent monarchs in history to shame.   

They not only demonstrate their own lack of sincerity about the issues they claim to care about; they also expose much of the green movement as nothing more that egoistic virtue signaling.    

Batya Ungar-Sargon is one of most innovative political thinkers in America today.  In an interview with Spiked’s Brendan O’Neill she discusses how woke politics harms working class Americans. 

GOUSA believes in greater opportunity for all Americans.  Over the last twenty years, the top 10 percent of the American public has done very well while working class Americans have been left behind.

In the interview, Unger-Sargon discusses why working class Americans are flocking to the Republican Party, how open-borders immigration hurts poor and lower-income blacks, why the media is biased against working class Americans and why she calls herself a “libertarian Marxist” (not as strange as it sounds).     

Batya Ungar-Sargon is the deputy opinion editor of Newsweek and is formerly the opinion editor of Forward, the largest Jewish news outlet in America.   

The interview is recommended listening.

You can hear the interview at the YouTube link below or at the Brendan O’Neill Show at Spiked-online.

You can also buy Batya’s recent book Bad News: How Woke Media is Undermining Democracy at Encounter Books.  (Annoy big tech.  Don’t buy from Amazon.) 

Surging inflation is both making Americans poorer and more inequal.  Larry Summers, who served as Treasury Secretary in the Obama Administration, puts the blame squarely where it belongs: excessive government spending.

Summers is well regarded within the economics profession and has held important roles in the Clinton and Obama Administrations.  As a Democratic party insider Summers’s criticisms of the economic policies of the current administration are revealing.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Summers discusses out how the massive amount of government spending coming out of Washington is driving up prices:

“I did what I thought was a straightforward analysis of the situation. I looked at how short incomes were of trend. And I saw that they were about $25 billion or $30 billion short of trend each month. And that that number was declining. And then I saw that the proposed transfer payments and other stimulus represented close to $200 billion a month. And so I thought if you were filling a $30 billion hole with $200 billion of spending, there was likely to be some overflow and that overflow would translate into inflation.“

Summers also points out that Biden and the Democrats inflationary spending is making most Americans poorer.  He says:       

“first just on the facts, this period of high inflation has coincided with more rapid, real wage reduction than we had seen previously. So for the majority of workers it’s working out badly so far, not working out well.“

Nor does Summers let the Federal Reserve off the hook.  In an opinion piece in the Washington Post, Summers points out that the Fed was wrong and continues to be wrong about the causes and persistence of inflation and is failing to take measures to contain inflation. 

Here at GOUSA, we’ve been following the inflation story closely.  We’ve blogged about how inflation is driving a rise in inequality in the United States.  We’ve also blogged about how inflation is making Americans poorer because for most of us, our pay packages are not keeping up with rising prices. 

And we will be holding our political class accountable for the economic havoc that their policies are inflicting the American people.  Our OppScore rating system penalizes politicians that support excessive and wasteful spending.  To learn more about it, visit the OppScore page on this website. 

An investigation by the National Pulse reveals the connections between Federal Reserve Board Vice-Chair Lael Brainard and the Chinese Government.  Their investigation underscores how deeply intertwined the Washington establishment has become with the CCP.    

Earlier this year the Federal Reserve System was rocked by the sudden resignations of two regional bank presidents.  Eric Rosengren of the Boston Fed and Robert Kaplan of the Dallas Fed both resigned on September 27 following an inquiry into trading activities on their personal investment accounts.

Now an investigation by the National Pulse reveals connections between Kurt Campbell, the husband of Federal Reserve Board Vice-Chair Lael Brainard, and officials of the Chinese Communist Party.  The National Pulse writes:

“Lael Brainard – recently nominated as Joe Biden’s Federal Reserve Vice Chairman – controversially refused to label the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) a currency manipulator during her stint in the Obama administration and is married to Kurt Campbell, who has deep ties to Beijing’s foreign influence operations and propaganda organs, The National Pulse can exclusively reveal.“   

The National Pulse reports that Campbell was the keynote speaker at a major conference sponsored by Patrick Ho, a business partner of Hunter Biden.  Ho was described by Hunter Biden as “the f**king spy chief of China.”  Campbell also has numerous business connections with China. 

Did her husband’s China connections influence her decisions in an official capacity?  The National Pulse points out that Brainard was very soft on China in her previous role in the Obama Administration.

“As Treasury’s top diplomat from 2010 to 2013, Brainard oversaw eight reports that all cleared China of its well-documented practice of currency manipulation and failed to ever criticize the decision.”

Indeed, her dovish stance on China and its trade policies has been a key concern regarding her role in the U.S. government (see for instance, here and here). 

At minimum the National Pulse’s revelation show how deeply intertwined the Washington establishment is with Communist China.  It’s like the Opium War in reverse with China using its money and influence to corrupt American society.

Here at GOUSA we stand for economic and national opportunity for Americans.  Our economic opportunity score considers whether politicians stand for free but also fair trade.  Our national opportunity score considers whether a politician puts America first. 

Our rating system is intended to both reward those politicians who support American interests and punish those who are corrupt.  To learn more about the GOUSA rating system, go here.    

The Congressional Budget Office has run the number on the Democrats Build back better plan and the numbers are not pretty.  The CBO estimates that the plan will increase the federal deficit by $3.0 trillion over the next ten years. 

Far from costing nothing, the Democrats Build Back Better plan will saddle future taxpayers with $3.0 trillion in debt.  The GOUSA blog reported earlier on the Democrats “fuzzy math.”  Now the CBO has weighed in.

No wonder that the House Democrats took the unusual step of rushing to vote on the bill before the CBO had the opportunity to score the legislation.     

Indeed, the claim Build Back Better would “cost nothing” earned Joe Biden two Pinocchios from the Washington Post fact checker.  Should have been more.

After being told for decades by pitchmen promising something for nothing, Americans can spot a con job when they see it. 

Perhaps the fibs, untruths and outright lies that Joe Biden and the Democrats have been telling the American people about the cost of the legislation are the reason that that it polls so poorly. 

Polling by NPR/Marist shows that a mere 41 percent of respondents support the Build Back Better bill. 

Here at GOUSA, we are cutting through the flimfammery, tomfoolery and buffoonery of America’s political class with our unique OppScore rating system. 

UPDATE: Manchin kills Build Back Better (Biden’s Big Budget Buster) for 2021

In any interview with CBS’s Face the Nation this Sunday, Anthony Fauci demonstrated why he should be removed from his position as the nation’s COVID czar.  

The full transcript is available here.

Fauci attacks his critics claiming that they are “really criticizing science because I represent science”.  Fauci’s statement demonstrates both an arrogance and a willful misrepresentation of what science really is.  

Science is not a person.  Nobody speaks for science.  Rather, science is a process of discovery.    

Science can tell you things about physical or natural phenomena.  Science cannot make value judgments.  Science cannot weigh one risk against another.  Science cannot tell you whether masks or vaccines should or should not be mandated.  Those are political questions. 

When Fauci claims that the science answers these questions, he is plainly misrepresenting what science is.  He’s also discrediting the credibility of science and the scientific method in the mind of the public.

Fauci also used the interview to attack the investigation into the CDC’s role in gain-of-function research and funding of the Wuhan lab.  Fauci’s claims regarding gain-of-function research and the Wuhan lab have been contradicted by documents obtained by the Intercept, Congressional investigators, and others. 

Indeed, when asked about gain-of-function research by Margaret Brennan, Fauci launched into a rant about the events on January 6.  Whatever happened at the capital on that date has no bearing on public health questions.  

In contrast, what the CDC knew about what was going on at the Wuhan lab and the origins of the COVID virus clearly does.  If the COVID virus did come from a lab, which is increasingly likely, then greater safety precautions and stringent prohibition of gain of function research are warranted.    

Rather than representing science, Fauci should be viewed as a thoroughly political animal.  That Fauci is lashing out at Senators Paul and Cruz shows that Republicans in Congress are getting closer to the truth. 

UPDATE: More today from senator Cruz. From the Daily Mail.

Referring to that interview, Cruz continued: ‘(Fauci) said, I represent science. I am science. I was laughing. It’s like Louis XIV, the sun king in France saying “I am the state.” It is this delusion of grandeur.’ 

Louis XIV ruled France between 1643 and 1715, and was given the insulting nickname because he believed the Kingdom of France revolved around him.  

Cruz also highlighted what he claims was a breach of a US law – 18USC, Code 1001 – made by Fauci when he told a Senate hearing in May that the National Institutes of Health, of which he serves as a director, did not fund ‘gain of function’ research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Chinese lab that COVID may have leaked from. 

But in October, the National Institutes of Health admitted it had funded gain of function research, which seeks to make viruses more potent to try and find treatments for them. 

Michael Shellenberger and Peter Boghossian have compiled a handy guide to the various sects of the woke religions. The guide appears below with more details at Michael’s Substack.

With respect to the genesis of the guide, Shellenberger writes:

We decided to publish the Woke Religion Taxonomy because it was helpful to our own understanding of Wokeism as a religion, and we felt it might help others. The Taxonomy identifies common myths and supernatural beliefs and helps explain why so many people continue to hold them, despite overwhelming evidence that they are false. We are under no illusion that the Taxonomy will reduce the power that Wokeism holds over true believers. But we also believe it will help orient those who are confused by its irrationalism, and are seeking an accessible overview. Finally, we are publishing it because we recognize that we might be wrong, either about matters of fact or classification, and hope it will encourage a healthy discussion and debate. As such, we have published it with the caveat that it is “Version 1.0” with the expectation that we will revise it in the future.

Very useful. Will certainly keep this handy.

The Pew Research Foundation asked people in 17 countries about what makes life meaningful. Relative to other countries, Americans were more likely to cite family, friends and faith and less likely to mention occupation or material well-being.

Critics of American society often claim that Americans are obsessed with wealth and material goods. That’s not true. The survey by the Pew Research Foundation found that the two areas of life were Americans were most likely to find meaning were family and friends. Indeed, Americans and Britons were more likely to cite family and friends among the top two sources of meaning in life than those in other advanced nations (below).

Material well-being and occupation ranked third and fourth–lower than in most other nations. Americans were more likely to find meaning in their faith than were people anywhere else.

Americans are also more likely to see value in life coming from many different sources. Only one in four Americans found meaning in life in only one area. Europeans and especially Asians were more likely to find meaning in only one life dimension.

At GOUSA we recognize that living a full life involves finding meaning in many different aspects of the human condition. That’s why we stand for more opportunity for all Americans to realize their potential in every dimension of their lives. Our work is not limited to one area. Rather, we stand for expanded economic, social, educational, national and personal opportunity for all.

A new Quinnipiac Poll shows how Biden has intensified the class divide. As Stephen Cortes points out, Biden’s approval on the economy among non-college educated whites is an astounding negative 54 percent.

That’s not surprising. Biden’s policies–destroying the energy industry, growing an already bloated government, coddling corporate monopolies–mainly benefit the laptop class while shafting blue collar workers.

Overall, Biden is at 34 percent. Among men on the economy, he’s at an abysmal 26 percent approval / 67 percent disapproval. That’s an eye-watering 41 point gap. Biden’s standing with independents is also terrible. Less than one in four approve of Biden’s handling of the economy, 66 percent disapprove.

Independents and Americans overall are eager to elect Republicans to stop the mess that Biden and the Democrats are making in Washington. Quinnipiac writes:

Republicans and Democrats overwhelmingly back their own parties. Independents say 41 – 31 percent they would want to see Republicans win control of the U.S. House of Representatives, while 28 percent did not offer an opinion.

Americans say 46 – 40 percent they would want to see the Republican Party win control of the U.S. Senate, while 15 percent did not offer an opinion. Independents say 44 – 34 percent that they would want to see the Republican Party win control of the U.S. Senate, and 22 percent did not offer an opinion.

Among Republicans, Biden is at 4 percent approval. Quinnipiac must have dialed Liz Cheney and Bill Kristol to get the number to four percent..