No matter what cover the corrupt corporate media provides for Kamala Harris, nothing changes the fact that she wants to make America a sanctuary nation. If you thought the last three years were bad, wait…

Politics Decoupling from China: Is it Possible? There are common-sense measures that can be taken to fortify American infrastructure from Chinese control. Credit: Amanda Wayne via Shutterstock The below remarks are excerpted from a speech delivered at NatCon4 in Washington, DC on July 8, 2024 Imagine waking up tomorrow in a world where America no longer calls the shots. Where our economic might has withered, our technological edge has been blunted, and our national security has been compromised. This isn’t the plot of a dystopian novel—it’s the future we’re sleepwalking into if we don’t change course. We face a challenge that will define our generation: decoupling from China. But our greatest hurdles aren’t across the Pacific; they’re right here at home. We’re fumbling the ball through a constant series of unforced errors, and it’s high time we got our head in the game. In many ways, I’m a living testament to both the American dream and the American nightmare. I was born in South Baltimore, and I grew up in a working-class suburb—Harford County—and to give you a quick sense of what it was like: The Fourth of July parade was one of the highlights of the year for our family. “Stars and Stripes Forever” still gives me goosebumps. We didn’t have a lot of money, but we were happy, and my mom’s insistence on education opened doors that I never even knew existed. Fast forward, and I’ve walked the halls of Wall Street and Silicon Valley as a corporate lawyer, I’ve worked in China, studied in Russia, launched three startups, and now live with my family near Malibu. But I’ve also seen the dark side of the American experience—the forever wars that Eisenhower warned us about. As a young kid my family, like so many others, was torn apart when my father returned from Vietnam a very changed man. This journey—from South Baltimore to the corridors of power—combined with my time at the Department of Energy has given me a fairly unique perspective on what’s at stake. And I can say with confidence that what’s at stake is nothing less than the future of American prosperity and global leadership. Now, picture this: America’s heartland, once a symphony of bustling factories, now a quiet elegy to jobs lost and dreams destroyed. But in those broken towns lies the sleeping giant of American ingenuity. I want to talk about how we wake that giant up. I have broken it down into three broad categories of obstacles we must overcome on the path to commercial decoupling from China. First, political blockers—exogenous ones, yes, but, frankly, mostly internal domestic ones. When challenged internally or externally with political gridlock, we have to empower our people to bust through these blockers. Second, legal—I will use the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) as an example, but the overarching point is that we have some good laws in place already that we can use, we just have to start using them. Third and finally, the enemy within—those of us ready to compete to sell the CCP the rope they will use to hang us—and those of us too worried about our own wellbeing to do anything to stop it. It’s the principal-agent problem.  Let’s start with a story that illustrates the madness we are dealing with. Imagine a piece of equipment so crucial that without it, you could not turn on the lights or charge your computer, your phone, or your car. I’m talking about large power transformers, or LPTs—the backbone of our power grid. These behemoths can weigh as much as 800,000 pounds—about the same as two Boeing 777s.  We have not really made any of these on American soil since the 1970s. Instead, we’ve largely outsourced production to China, essentially handing over the keys to our power grid to a country that has declared a “People’s War” on us. It’s insanity. When I discovered this while working at the Department of Energy, I didn’t wait for an inter-agency meeting or propose a new 100-page, five-year study (of which we already had two!) I picked up the phone, and I called the CEO of the energy production divisions of one of the big three manufacturers.  I assumed there was some complex market-driven rational explanation for why we couldn’t make LPTs here anymore. Guess what? There isn’t. The CEO said she’d be happy to bring LPT manufacturing back to America; in fact they had already planned it out because Chinese supply chains were so inconsistent. All we would have to do is cover the cost of training our workforce to learn how to make them again. The price tag? $15 million a year for the first two or three years. I was shocked. I thought for a second her German accent was playing tricks on me—I remembered “billion” in German starts with an “M,” so I confirmed with her. Yes, she said $15 million per year for two or three years.  This is the same Department of Energy that gave $3 million to a coffee company to explore reducing the energy it uses for roasting its coffee beans. $15 million is pocket change in DC, especially compared to the high-paying jobs and radical improvement in energy security it would bring. But here’s where it gets extra crazy. When I said, “I’m pretty sure I can come up with the money” and asked how soon we could start, she said, “After the [2020] election.” Let that sink in. A foreign company, based in a supposed ally, was playing political football with America’s energy independence, and some in our own government, including political appointees, were perfectly content to let them. This brings me to our first action item: We need a “Made in America” mandate for all critical energy infrastructure components. No more waiting for election cycles. No more outsourcing our security. Let’s set a goal: Within four years, every large and medium power transformer on American soil is made in the USA. We control enough market demand; we can make it happen. Now, let’s talk about legal loopholes big enough to fly not one but many Chinese spy balloons through. During my time vetting foreign acquisitions of American companies, I spotted a European firm trying to buy a U.S. energy startup. I googled them—which, by the way, I don’t think many government reviewers bother to do even basic diligence like googling these companies—and I found Chinese nationals on the board of directors of the acquiring company. So, I wrote back asking if any of these Chinese directors were members of the Chinese Communist Party. You’d think this is a pretty straightforward question, right? Boards control companies—that’s how corporate governance works—and we were at least ostensibly supposed to be assessing the risks of foreign-controlled companies buying American assets relevant to national security.  Wrong. The American lawyers—our own people, mind you—indignantly protested saying it was “inappropriate” for me to ask about “political party” affiliation and refused to answer my question.  This leads us to action item number two: We need to give teeth to many of the strictures we already have in place to defend against the commercial aspect of the Unrestricted Warfare China is prosecuting against us. The CFIUS process is weak sauce, but let’s at least enforce “Full Disclosure.” Any foreign entity looking to acquire American companies must provide complete transparency on their leadership’s political affiliations and connections. No more hiding behind legal jargon. But here’s the kicker—and this is where it gets personal for many of us in this room. Our most elite law firms, the ones right down the street on K Street, are being paid top dollar by Chinese interests to run circles around our government lawyers. When you’re making $175,000 a year as a govvie, and the guy across the table is pulling in $2–3 million a year as a partner at a big firm, who do you think has the upper hand? It’s not just about skill; it’s about incentives. That government lawyer is secretly (or not so secretly!) fantasizing about the big firm partner realizing he has found a diamond in the rough and offering to hire the government guy finally to get the fancy office and big salary that he is so certain he deserves.  This brings me to my final point—the enemy within. It’s essentially a “principal-agent problem,” which is really just a fancy way of saying too many people in government care more about their next job than their current one. Here’s a real-world example. At DOE, when I asked for a simple list of foreigners working in our national labs, I hit a brick wall. Not from China, and not from the career bureaucrats, but from our own team—from the appointees. Suddenly, they needed “inter-agency cooperation” and meetings about other meetings in order to have some more meetings. Translation: “Don’t rock the boat, Dave, I’ve got a cushy private-sector job lined up after this.” So, here’s action item number three: Let’s create a “Patriot Pledge” for all political appointees working in national security. The current ethics rules for getting private sector jobs after government service are a convoluted joke written by some of the very people who are most excited to use the loopholes that they’re putting in. Let’s keep it simple: All presidential appointees should agree to a lifetime ban to work for or on behalf of CCP-controlled firms, including Hikvision, Temu, Huawei, DJI, Tiktok, ZTE and all the others. (Yes, this would’ve applied to Tony Podesta and Loretta Lynch.) Serve America first, now and forever, or don’t serve at all. Now, I hear skeptics already. “It’s not that simple,” they’ll say. “The global economy is interconnected.” To that I say: It’s victory or death. This is not a game. There are no do-overs. Losing is not an option for you or your kids.  Look, we know how to win—whenever Americans decide to win, we do. But we didn’t beat the Nazis by forming committees. And we didn’t beat the Soviets with timid half-measures. Let’s channel that American spirit once again. Here’s my modest contribution to our battle plan: 1. Revitalize American manufacturing, particularly in energy: Let’s not just bring back LPTs. Let’s identify every critical component of our energy infrastructure and within five years, produce at least 80 percent of these domestically (and get the rest from friends). Make tax and other strategic incentives for companies that reshore—and penalties for those who don’t. 2. Give teeth to our existing legal defenses, and construct effective new ones. I used CFIUS as an example. I don’t know if it was constructed as this ad hoc administrative amoeba to make it less effective or not, but why not just reciprocate how the Chinese government operates—de jure cross-border M&A deals in China are approved by MOFCOM, their Ministry of Commerce (in reality, of course, it’s the Party). Why not make it just as simple here? Direct the FTC to block any cross-border M&A that runs counter to our national interest. They’ve proven over the past three years they are experts at blocking basically all M&A. That’s actually in our national interest!  3. Cultivate patriotic public service. Besides the “Patriot Pledge,” as mentioned above, let’s create a fast-track program for successful business leaders to serve in government when they otherwise have significant reasons not to.  This would include: two-year stints; support to help with the insane amount of paperwork to get going—especially with security clearances—I got full Q in less than a month, and there is no reason it should take longer, definitely not a year or a year and a half; a clear mission; and give them backup to cut through the BS—this is especially true at the cabinet departments. If the secretaries and depsecs won’t support them, make sure the White House liaisons are willing to move aggressively against them by giving the liaisons real authority and putting people in those positions with the fortitude to use it.  I am living proof that private sector operators—who often without incentive simply would rather not—can come in, work hard to fix what’s broken, and leave. The challenge of our time is here, and it’s an age-old enemy but with a new face: evil—and with it, enslavement of your body and your mind. This time, its champion is the Chinese Communist Party. Their goal is global authoritarianism. To anyone who might question our commitment to freedom and liberty, I’ll just say this: We are going to win, and our grandchildren will look back on this time and say this was when America finally reclaimed her destiny. Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America. The post Decoupling from China: Is it Possible? appeared first on The American Conservative.

Foreign Affairs Chaos in Venezuela May Exacerbate U.S. Border Crisis Socialist strongman declares victory as opposition takes to the streets. Credit: María Alejandra Mora via Wikimedia Commons Venezuela’s incumbent President Nicolás Maduro declared victory over the opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia in the July 28 national election. This declaration was disputed by the leader of the opposition party, María Corina Machado, who alleged that the election results announced by the regime were falsified. With unrest already brewing over irregularities in the administration of the election by the Maduro government, Machado urged citizens to take to the streets and secure the transfer of power, writing on X, “Now it is up to us to redeem the truth that EVERYONE knows. We will mobilize. WE WILL WIN!”  Thousands of Venezuelans across the country rallied in support of the opposition candidates, many in front of the United Nations deputation in the capital of Caracas. The Maduro government cracked down in response, arresting protestors and members of the opposition and deploying the military in some areas. International support for the opposition party is strong. Many Latin American and other world leaders recognized González as president. With continued and energetic domestic and international opposition however, the fate of the Maduro government remains in doubt. The conduct of the Venezuelan government led to doubts about the potential integrity of the contest long before election day. While the Biden administration lifted sanctions on Venezuela at the end of 2023 in exchange for the promise of a fair election, by April it became clear that Maduro had no intention of complying with the terms set by the agreement. Sanctions were reimposed. Dozens of opposition politicians and supporters who were supposed to be released remained political prisoners, and more were arrested in the months leading up to the election. Additionally, the leader of the united coalition of opposition parties, Machado, was disqualified by the government from running in the presidential race. The conduct of the Venezuelan government on the election day confirmed the fears of the opposition, as election observers were forcibly expelled from some polling places, other polling places were opened or closed without warning, and yet others were kept open later than legally permitted. In most polling stations, however, opposition activists were able to maintain their position as election observers until after the polls closed, and were able to obtain and digitize the paper records from the machines used to tally the votes. The voting machines used by Venezuela for the election provide two ways of verifying the results. After voters make their selection of candidates, the machine prints a paper ballot for the voter to read and confirm. This paper ballot is then deposited in a box at the polling station. After polling places close, the machine prints off a receipt containing each of the votes cast at that machine, which, according to Venezuelan law, must be made available to observers from all parties participating in the election. While election observers at polling stations were tallying the results from the voting machine receipts, the paper ballots were delivered to the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE), which is responsible for administering elections and processing the results. The CNE declared Maduro the winner the next day, claiming that he received 51.2 percent of the vote, with González receiving 44.2 percent and other candidates receiving 4.6 percent. These results were immediately challenged by the opposition, which claims to have collected receipts from 73 percent of polling places. With those records, they estimate that the actual final proportion of votes cast was 67 percent in favor of González, with Maduro receiving only 30 percent and other candidates 2 percent. To support their claims, Machado announced the launch of a website where Venezuelans can enter their government ID number and find an image of their voting record, if the vote was registered at one of the precincts where observers were able to review the results. Both the opposition and international observers have asked the CNE to release the paper ballots and other voting details to provide evidence for their claims of Maduro’s victory. The CNE has, however, not released any information other than the claimed vote counts it assessed on Monday. The results released by the opposition are also in line with the results of exit polling conducted by Edison Research, where González polled at 65 percent support, with 31 percent for Maduro. Confident that González won the election, the opposition took to the streets across the nation to support their candidate’s installment as president of Venezuela. Thousands gathered in front of the United Nations deputation in Caracas on Tuesday at a rally intended to convince the Maduro government to concede. González and Machado addressed the demonstration. In response, Maduro accused the opposition of being right-wing extremists seeking an “escalation of violence,” and announced that measures would be taken to restore order to the country. The vice president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, denounced the protests as “fascism aimed against the humble people” of the nation. The government has deployed security forces in various areas across the country and made a number of arrests of protestors and opposition leaders, including the party’s political coordinator Freddy Superlano. In a post on X on Wednesday, Machado claimed that the country has seen “more than 177 unlawful arrests, 11 abductions and at least 16 political murders in the last 48 hours.” Opposition protests continue across the nation. While a few countries–most notably Russia and China– released statements congratulating Maduro on his victory, the international response to the Venezuelan election has been strongly favorable to the opposition. Maduro’s regional allies, Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, released a joint statement calling on the CNE to release more detailed information on the election, while several other Latin American countries released energetic condemnations of the Maduro government. In response, the Venezuelan government expelled diplomats from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken released a statement Thursday, saying: Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo González Urrutia won the most votes in Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election…. We congratulate Edmundo González Urrutia on his successful campaign.  Now is the time for the Venezuelan parties to begin discussions on a respectful, peaceful transition in accordance with Venezuelan electoral law and the wishes of the Venezuelan people. This response will continue to sour relations with Maduro’s government in Venezuela, which were already in decline after the April reimposition of sanctions. If the Maduro government weathers the current outbreak of civil unrest, regional tensions are likely to increase as more political refugees flee the country. More than 7 million refugees have already left the country, some seeking to leave behind political persecution, many more the abysmal quality of life resulting from the socialism of Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, which has devastated the country and left it poorer today than it was in 1945. Tensions between Venezuela and Colombia have already flared over refugees in the past, and more strife will result if protests prove fruitless at dislodging the incumbent. A new flood of Venezuelan refugees would inevitably result in many seeking to cross the border into the United States, where hundreds of thousands already reside, further exacerbating a southern border crisis that has spiraled out of control in the past few years. With illegal immigration ranking as a top concern of voters this cycle, the results of the presidential election in Venezuela may well have echoes in the American presidential election this November. The post Chaos in Venezuela May Exacerbate U.S. Border Crisis appeared first on The American Conservative.

Politics The Kamalafornia Republic The vice president is profoundly out of step with the American people—one might even say “weird.” Credit: Ringo Chiu via Shutterstock No matter what cover the corrupt corporate media provides for Kamala Harris, nothing changes the fact that she wants to make America a sanctuary nation. If you thought the last three years were bad, wait until this California liberal takes the White House.  You had better believe it: more mass amnesty, more mass redistribution of taxpayer dollars to illegals, more mass death tolls from fentanyl, more mass human trafficking numbers, and more mass crime will be unleashed under President Harris. Kamala’s vision will plague our country with boundless misery. It will be the tragedy of California at the national level. It will be Kamalafornia. Combine this fact with the corrupt media’s unwavering support for the Democratic Party, and you have the perfect recipe for revisionist history. That is why, as soon as Kamala entered the presidential race, the corrupt media went into overdrive attempting to wipe the internet clean of Kamala’s terrible record.  This move by the Marxist media is a necessary strategy for them. The media knows how bad a candidate Kamala really is. They know how unpopular her immigration and border policies are with the American people. But the mainstream media is an arm of the Democratic Party, comprising militant partisans masquerading as journalists.  This backtracking by the media on Kamala’s globalist immigration agenda was truly impressive to watch. Despite the fact that Kamala was assigned the job of “border czar” by Joe Biden in 2021, the media now wants you to believe this was a figment of your imagination. Don’t believe your lying eyes. Outlets like Axios and GovTrack, which boasts that it is “one of the oldest government transparency websites in the world,” were among the most obvious offenders. Before the Biden palace coup, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, and ABC proudly touted Kamala as the “border czar.” But when Kamala was installed as the Democratic nominee, these outlets reversed course. POLITICO even claimed that “the Biden-Harris administration has kicked out far more immigrants than Trump ever managed to.” As you read this, I’m sure there are other outlets erasing history at the behest of the Democrats.  This was all predictable. After all, Kamala has previewed what she would do in the Oval Office for the last three years. As border czar, Kamala oversaw the largest invasion in the history of our country. Under Kamala’s watch, at least 10 million illegals have been encountered at the border. Some studies suggest there are over 20 million illegals currently in the United States.  Countless Americans have been killed as a result of the border crisis. Over 50 radical Islamic terrorists are running loose in the interior of our country. Two hundred and fifty thousand of our brothers and sisters have died because of fentanyl pouring into our communities. Women and children are being subjected to sexual assault and rape. No one feels safe anymore under this radical regime. It has opened the floodgates into our homeland. And don’t be fooled. Kamala has no intention of changing her ways if she becomes president. Don’t take my word for it. Take it from Kamala’s campaign manager, Julie Chávez Rodríguez. The granddaughter of the communist-aligned Cesar Chavez, Chávez Rodríguez recently said Kamala Harris would continue Biden’s border policies if she becomes President.  This, too, was predictable. Of course she would be all for Joe Biden’s failed border and immigration policies. Before becoming vice president, Kamala said she supported legislation that would provide “Medicare for All” to illegals. As California’s attorney general, Kamala sided with then-Mayor Gavin Newsom’s sanctuary city policies in San Francisco. During her first failed 2020 presidential Debate, Kamala stated that she supported decriminalizing illegal border crossings altogether. As a senator, Kamala compared ICE to the Ku Klux Klan. She introduced a bill that would prohibit DHS from using any federal funds to construct or expand detention centers for illegals. She introduced legislation that would allow illegal aliens to receive work authorization in the United States. She repeatedly demanded protections for DACA recipients. Far-left immigration groups, like the Latino Victory Fund, paraded Kamala around to solicit funding from her Globalist-elite backers in Hollywood and Silicon Valley. In recent days, Kamala’s cronies and the mainstream media have attempted to paint President Trump and J.D. Vance as “weird.” Don’t even get me started on all of Kamala’s policies that most Americans find weird.  But I will say this. I think it’s weird that Kamala doesn’t seem to care about the murders, rapes, and assaults that are happening because of our open borders. I think it’s weird she’s not worried about the terrorists roaming free in our country. I think it’s weird she discusses the troubles of a mentally-disturbed transgender, Dylan Mulvaney, instead of Laken Riley, who was brutally murdered at the hands of an illegal. I think it’s weird that the mainstream media are hiding the truth about Kamala’s abysmal record on border security and illegal immigration. That’s “weird” to me. The Democrats’ Mainstream Media Militia and Kamala Harris should be ashamed that they’re running on calling our American First candidates “weird.” The American people are hurting, just as the millions of Californians have suffered under the Democrat Iron Fist for decades.  We need to take this country back before it’s too late. If we’re not careful, we will have at least another four years of this nightmare. Kamalafornia is no place where I want my children and grandchildren to grow up. And no new spin by the Mainstream Media Militia will change that. The American people have 95 days to find out who Kamala Harris really is—before it is too late. The post The Kamalafornia Republic appeared first on The American Conservative.

The following article, Paul: America Reaches a Sad Milestone As National Debt Reaches $35 TRILLION, was first published on Conservative Firing Line. Last week the national debt reached 35 trillion dollars, a mere seven months after the debt reached 34 trillion dollars. To put this in perspective, the national debt first reached one trillion dollars in October of 1981, almost 200 years after the Constitution’s ratification! The fact that the government was adding one trillion dollars in … Continue reading Paul: America Reaches a Sad Milestone As National Debt Reaches $35 TRILLION ...

A list of excellent records. The post Al Kooper names the 100 “best recordings” of all time first appeared on Far Out Magazine.