Article 1, Asunder

The United States Constitution clearly delegates the power of the purse to Congress right up front in Article. 1, Section. 1:

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

The composition, requirements and duties of each house of Congress are specified by the Founders in exquisite detail throughout Article 1. It comes first in the Constitution because Congress is closest to The People. At least, it was until the last century.

The Founders took such pains with the text because they knew the tendency for corruption, evil, and illegal power grabs inherent in human nature. It was as though they could see the spectre of a destructive and dictatorial Joe Biden lurking in the mists of a dark American future. In Section 9, clause 7, Article 1 definitively states:

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.

What Biden did today regarding student debt was unconstitutional, unethical, and immoral. Loan debt, by definition, cannot be "canceled" or "forgiven." It is money that has been spent already, for a service received under signed contract. He is transferring that debt to Americans who have paid their student loan obligations or who never had student loan debt in the first place.

Biden is not empowered to do this under our Constitution. He is not a king reigning by divine right, although he acts as though he is. He is a very transitory president. And, as our current Democrat rulers keep reminding us, "No one is above the law." No one, evidently, unless it's a Democrat president tearing Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution asunder--at the expense of the American taxpayer.

Ready for Battle

With its anti-Catholic, anti-Rosary hit piece, The Atlantic has gone around the bend. Even for a left-wing publication, this is beyond the pale. The online blowback has been so swift and fierce that they keep tweaking the headline, which originally stated that the Rosary "became an extremist symbol" to "how extremist gun culture is trying to co-opt the Rosary."

Oh sure, we Rosary devotees are quite the right-wing, gun-crazed militants. I've been praying the Rosary almost every day for a dozen years, but I've never owned a gun or fired a shot. Try to square that circle, Lefties.

The Rosary is a contemplative, meditative series of prayers intended to focus the mind on the many mysteries in the life of Jesus Christ. Could anyone find a less violent subject for concentrated thought? You can get back to me on that.

Since beginning this wholesome habit of praying the Rosary, I have found myself more centered, calm, and aware of God's presence in my daily life. If such a mindset predisposes me to militant extremism, you'll have to prove it. Yes, the Rosary is often described as a "weapon." It is a weapon against evil, and it's meant to fortify goodness. No wonder the Communists have a problem with it.

Among the unintended condsequences the Atlantic article managed to accomplish is a rise in Rosary sales. God works in mysterious ways.

Below is a picture of my late mother's favorite Rosary beads. She owned quite an arsenal of Rosaries, some of them very beautiful. Such a radical revolutionary she was, that mother of mine! But these were her favorite because they had been a gift from her best friend, circa 1945. I remember them from my earliest memories. I now use them, often. More than 75 years of Rosaries have been prayed on these beads. You'll have to do the math on how many prayers that adds up to.

I also carry Mom's Rosary at all times, in my purse. These are my personal, concealed carry, high caliber assault Rosary beads. They are always ready for action. Godless hack writers, along with haters of all stripes, would be wise to stand down.

Remembering Audit Hell

Have you ever been audited by the IRS? I have. To put it as mildly as possible, it's not pleasant.

It was nearly 30 years ago, but I remember as though it happened last week. Being audited by the IRS is a long, stressful, worrisome, expensive process. My late husband was a small business owner; that's exactly who the newly weaponized IRS will be targeting with their legions of new auditors. They will scour tax returns for any error, no matter how small. When someone looks that hard, they find.

Back in the mid-1990s, there was a mistake in our tax return from three years earlier. Penalties and interest compounded daily, so we owed a massive amount by our modest financial standards. Pete and I worked with the IRS, answering every demand for receipts, documents, checks, and records. The litany of government demands seemed endless. Even though we were cooperating, the regularly recurring threatening letters invariably arrived on either a Friday or Saturday--just in time to wreck a hard-earned weekend.

We had life-threatening illness, several major surgeries, and even a terrible car accident in our family during the four-year ordeal of our audit. The IRS did not care. They wanted their money.

Thank God we had a good tax professional to help us through. He represented us to our assigned auditor and eventually arrived at a settlement that we could handle. I still have the letter from the IRS that closed our audit. But Pete's business folded during those years, and he never had one again. I'm convinced the anxiety, stress, and pressures of that miserable period took years off his life.

So now hardworking Americans will have 87,000 auditors poring over our paperwork, searching for government gold. I can promise you, they will find it. If there's anything itemized on your tax return, I advise you to hang on to every single receipt. You're going to need them.

Just Curious

After the unprecedented raid on President Trump's home, I'm left with one recurring question.

What are the radical lefties so scared of? Dozens of FBI agents swarming all over the Mar-a-Lago premises, car lights flashing, guns drawn--at a former president's residence. And Donald Trump wasn't even home.

Trump obviously terrifies the Big Government Lefties (many would say "Communists," but I'll try to stay polite). The Lefties hate him with feverish obsession, and they just can't let him go. They've got to find something, anything, to throw him into handcuffs and leg irons. But, why? What was it about his presidency that was so awful, so frightening, that nearly two years later they are still frothing at the mouth to get him somehow?

It couldn't just be the mean tweets, could it? No. That wouldn't make sense, even for Lefties. It's got to be much more than that.

Was it the low gas prices? Gasoline was so much cheaper when Trump was president, since he allowed our own energy sector to grow and flourish. Could that be the problem?

Was it the booming economy? People were working, the stock market was soaring, low-income and minority workers had record low unemployment numbers. Inflation was never mentioned. Maybe that's it?

Was it Trump's deregulation of business, allowing independent entrepreneurs nationwide to thrive and prosper? Hmm. We could be getting somewhere now.

Did peace breaking out in the Middle East, courtesy of Trump's groundbreaking Abraham Accords, cause the issue? Or maybe the fact that China and North Korea, not to mention Iran and Russia, were all minding their Ps & Qs on Trump's watch? Yes, that certainly could have upset the Lefties.

Or was it the fact that he supported everyday Americans? You know, US. The hardworking taxpayers that the Lefties are hiring 87,000 more IRS agents to shake down and intimidate. Everyday Americans--not rich corporate ideologues--comprise Trump's voting base. I think that scares the sox off the Lefties.

Whatever it is, the Left is very scared of him. They are so scared of him that they've made a serious mistake with the raid on Trump's home. By acting like the ruling iron-fisted thugs in Cuba, Venezuela, Communist China, and the old Soviet Union, the Left has alienated a lot of voters. Americans don't like tyrants and dictators. They just aren't our style. Furthermore, Americans still vote.

That makes me think of another question. If the Left's manipulation machine starts meddling again in the next election, how angry do you think American voters will be? I may be curious, but that's something I don't want to find out.

Safe At Home

Vin Scully ~ 1927-2022

I was never a Dodgers fan. But I was always a Vin Scully fan. He was the gold standard for baseball broadcasters, although (in my opinion) none ever surpassed his level of excellence and accomplishment.

Vin Scully died last night at the age of 94. There will be innumerable tributes to this sportscasting legend, as well there should be. Even though I've probably listened to it a half dozen times, today I listened again to Hugh Hewitt's interview with Vin Scully (July 3, 2012) in his honor.

There are many notable quotes from Scully's broadcasting career. My favorite is from a discussion about a player who was listed as "day to day." After that description, Scully remarked "Aren't we all?" 

A very "pleasant good evening" it was when Vin Scully rounded heaven's home plate.