President – Calling Out Community

31 Presidential National Emergency Declarations Still In Effect

According to the Federal Register, 58 national emergencies have been declared since the National Emergency Act of 1976 was signed into law by President Gerald Ford.

And 31 have been annually renewed and are currently still in effect, as listed in the Federal Register. And 18 of those – 58% of the total – were enacted by Democrat Presidents, Take THAT, Nancy Pelosi.

Here’s a list of the presidents who declared still ongoing national emergencies.

PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER

Nov 14, 1979:
The National Emergency With Respect to Iran, in response to the Iran hostage crisis.

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON

Nov 14, 1994:
The National Emergency With Respect to the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, that combined two previous national emergencies focused on weapons of mass destruction.

Jan. 2, 1995:
The National Emergency With Respect to Prohibiting Transactions with Terrorists Who Threaten to Disrupt the Middle East Peace Process placed economic sanctions in response to the Jerusalem bombing.

March 15, 1995:
The National Emergency With Respect to Prohibiting Certain Transactions with Respect to the Development of Iranian Petroleum Resources was an effort to prevent potential deals between oil companies.

October 21, 1995:
The National Emergency With Respect to Blocking Assets and Prohibiting Transactions with Significant Narcotics Traffickers Centered in Colombia was declared after increased reports of drug cartels laundering money through American companies.

March 1, 1996:
The National Emergency With Respect to Regulations of the Anchorage and Movement of Vessels with Respect to Cuba was after civilian planes were shot down near Cuba

November 3, 1997:
The National Emergency With Respect to Blocking Sudanese Government Property and Prohibiting Transactions with Sudan implemented economic and trade sanctions.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH

June 26, 2001:
The National Emergency With Respect to Blocking Property of Persons Who Threaten International Stabilization Efforts in the Western Balkans imposed sanctions on those aiding Albanian insurgents in Macedonia

Aug 17, 2001:
The National Emergency With Respect to Export Control Regulations renewed presidential power to control exports in a national emergency since the Export Administration Act of 1979 lapsed.

Sept 14, 2001: The National Emergency with Respect to Certain
Terrorist Attacks was in response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and the continuing and immediate threat of further attacks on the United States.

Sept 23, 2001:
The National Emergency With Respect to Persons Who Commit, Threaten to Commit, or Support Terrorism was in response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

March 6, 2003:
The National Emergency With Respect to Blocking Property of Persons Undermining Democratic Processes or Institutions in Zimbabwe was an effort to punish associates of Robert Mugabe.

May 22, 2003:
The National Emergency With Respect to Protecting the Development Fund for Iraq and Certain Other Property in Which Iraq has an Interest was issued following the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

May 11, 2004:
The National Emergency With Respect to Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting the Export of Certain Goods to Syria was in response to Syria supporting terrorist activity in Iraq.

June 16, 2006:
The National Emergency With Respect to Blocking Property of Certain Persons Undermining Democratic Processes or Institutions in Belarus was in response to charges of fraud in the Belarus presidential election.

Oct 27, 2006:
The National Emergency With Respect to Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was in response to violence around the Congolese presidential election runoff.

Aug 1, 2007:
The National Emergency With Respect to Blocking Property of Persons Undermining the Sovereignty of Lebanon was in response to a breakdown of the rule of law in Lebanon.

June 26, 2008:
The National Emergency With Respect to Continuing Certain Restrictions with Respect to North Korea cited the risk of proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material. President Trump renewed this June 22, 2018 citing the “existence and risk of proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula and the actions and policies of the Government of North Korea continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat.”

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

April 12, 2010:
The National Emergency With Respect to Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in Somalia was in respect to threats posed by Somali pirates.

February 25, 2011:
The National Emergency With Respect to Blocking Property and Prohibiting Certain Transactions Related to Libya froze the assets of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

July 25, 2011:
The National Emergency With Respect to Blocking Property of Transnational Criminals was in response to the rise in crime by specific organizations: Los Zetas (Mexico), The Brothers’ Circle (former Soviet Union countries), the Yakuza (Japan), and the Camorra (Italy).

May 16, 2012:
The National Emergency With Respect to Blocking Property of Persons Threatening the Peace, Security, or Stability of Yemen addressed political unrest within the Yemen government.

March 16, 2014:
The National Emergency With Respect to Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Ukraine was in response to the Russian invasion of Crimea.

April 3, 2014:
The National Emergency With Respect to Blocking Property of Certain Persons With Respect to South Sudan was in response to the ongoing civil war.

May 12, 2014:
The National Emergency With Respect to Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Conflict in the Central African Republic was in response to violence towards humanitarian aid workers.

March 8, 2015:
The National Emergency With Respect to Blocking Property and Suspending Entry of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Venezuela was in response to human rights violations.

April 1, 2015:
The National Emergency With Respect to Blocking the Property of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities was in response to Chinese cyber attacks on the U.S.

Nov 23, 2015:
The National Emergency With Respect to Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Burundi was declared after a failed coup.

PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP

Dec 20, 2017:
The National Emergency With Respect to Blocking the Property of Persons Involved in Serious Human Rights Abuse or Corruption imposed sanctions on the Myanmar general for his role persecuting Rohingya Muslims.

Sept 12, 2018:
The National Emergency With Respect to Imposing Certain Sanctions in the Event of Foreign Interference in a United States Election attempted to prevent any meddling with the 2018 midterm elections amid the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Nov 27, 2018:
The National Emergency With Respect to Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Nicaragua was declared by President Trump in response to violence and the Ortega regime’s “systematic dismantling and undermining of democratic institutions and the rule of law” that constitutes an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”

By Shawn Jorgensen, Founding Editor
Calling Out Community
Posted: February 16, 2019
[God’s Got A Plan For You!]

I’d Never Want To Be US President…Even If I Could

I cannot imagine today a more thankless job than President of the United States of America.

While I do appreciate all of the kind words and comments of encouragement for me to seek the highest office in the land (and there have been exactly ZERO of those so far), I feel I simply must decline the opportunity (though such a chance does not exist, as I was born and live currently in Canada). And I wanted to share with the millions of you out there reading this (well, there might be 50 if I’m lucky) why I cannot be your President (hypothetically, as again, it’s not actually possible).

Dear reader – hold your tears, your shouts of disappointment and your calls to reconsider, until I have finished explaining why. It just might encourage those in the United States who can fix such things to begin making repairs to the US political system, so that highly-qualified people like myself (which is probably categorically untrue) would consider applying for the job – rather than the same tired old raging pinheads that often find this type of role exciting and meaningful …to them. And they are tired and old – they’ve been running on this hamster wheel far past their expiration dates. Which is why they always have such dead eyes.

I get it, you’re disappointed that I don’t want to become a future President – or Prime Minister somewhere – if that opportunity also came up somewhere.

But take no offense to my words, unless of course I meant to offend, and in that case, I’ll point it out to you, so that you may be properly triggered as you see fit. I want to be an equal opportunity irritant. And “Being An Irritant” is in fact my established goal for this piece. Thank you for therefore for being triggered as you see fit, if you felt so inclined at some point.

I take it as a high compliment indeed. But no need to tell me about it in the comments – just know that I would be delighted to hear of it if you did tell me… and if I cared to read about it. Did that sound insensitive? Oh yes, I should mention – I can be a bit insensitive. Though if you did know me at all, by now you’d also know that this blog isn’t a safe space for liberals, the triggered, social justice warriors, whiners, Antifa, Black Lives Matter, or other vaious snowflakes in all their shapes, sizes, colors and genders. So you read it at your own discretion.

Coming back to my main point – there is not a chance in Heaven or Earth that I would want to be the president of United States of America, even if it was given to me by accident or I inherited it without having to campaign for three minutes. Because that is literally about my limit of interest in trying for same position.

Oh I know some people would say: yeah right! As if you would give up something like living in the White House, and all of the trappings of the presidency – the limousine, Air Force One, all the opportunities to meet famous people that you would have, getting to travel all over the world and speak to huge crowds everywhere you go. Being adored by at least 50% of the population that elected you (unless your “approval rating” fell below 50%).

And I could never have a job that had an approval rating that was determined by some very unstable people at times out there. Nor would I want to have to apply for my job and have 110 million people or so deciding on whether I get the job. And then having to reapply for it again in less than 4 years – paying up to a $1 billion to run for a job that I would make about $400,000 a year doing. Return on Investment (ROI) seems a bit off there.

Having the power to make a real difference in your country – your words having the ability to actually help heal people, give people jobs, give people hope, inspire future generations, protect them against the threats of natural and man-made disasters, and defend them in a time of war against hostile enemies. Now that would be cool. But the President of the United States rarely gets to do any of that stuff, except in the movies, before we go to kick butt with some alien invasion force.

True, your words would muster and command a combined armed forces with;

The nuclear launch codes that control over 6,800 nuclear missiles strategically placed around the world
Control over the operation of 800 military bases in 79 countries around the world including the United States itself, of course, which would be staffed by:
- 170,000 soldiers on active duty in 150 countries around the world, with another 40,000 on classified missions that no one has ever publically heard about in undisclosed locations
- 384,544 soldiers/officers in the Army
- 273,192 sailors/officer in the Navy
- 146,638 Marines
- 255,181 Air Force personnel
- 36,900 Coast Guard officers
And all that amazing equipment, like those on the sea:
- 20 active aircraft carriers, including the brand new USD Gerald R Ford, commissioned in July 2017, and the George HW Bush, at about $5 billion each. Getting your name on something like THAT would be pretty cool, as just seeing it approach on the horizon would most likely cause your enemies to wet themselves with fear – and I’ve always thought that kind of power to be rather addicting, should one possess it.
- 10 frigates
- 65 destroyers
- 66 submarines
Over 4,000 Abrams tanks parked in the desert, excess from current needs. (Credit: WN.com )

Those on land, including:
- 9,000 tanks, including 4,000 brand-new M1 Abrams tanks sitting in the Nevada desert that are entirely unnecessary excess, as a result of having one factory that makes them, and they don’t want to ever shut it down, for national security reasons.
- 38,822 armored personnel vehicles
- 950 self-propelled artillery
- 795 towed artillery
- 1197 rocket launchers
- 2,830 attack jets
- 1,962 fighter/a
- 973 attack helicoptersAnd in the not-so-friendly skies above, like:

Having that kind of firepower around would certainly make one’s job easier as President, but it’s a lot of pressure to pay those kind of bills for gas, groceries and guys! Ok there are girls too…

It’s a thankless job to have to be leader of the Free World. Because the world is not Free, it has cost an awful lot in dollars, blood and time to build it over the centuries. And the problems a President faces – a $20 trillion debt? I have had moments worrying about paying my $300 Mastercard bill at times. That’s just beyond ridiculous to know that you will start the PResidency buried in debt, and just keep adding to it until the end of your term – because America just can’t pay its bills. And some day a President is going to have to deal with THAT too, or countries like China, that hold about $7 trillion in US debt, will deal with it for America.

And Americans are often sick without health care, go through natural disasters without insurance, are often send to war without adequate troops and resources, and usually are n the sights of some terrorist who hates America. Because it’s cool to hate America today, it seems. Who wants to be leader of a country that no one likes? That makes international meetings like the United Nations feel like being on the school yard as a kid, and never getting picked to play sports, though you are the gargantuan kid in class who grew 2 feet faster than anyone else.

And you’d be President over a lot of people that you frankly find a hard time stomaching. The hatred in these Divided States of America is quite shocking. And no, I’m not talking about your standard Right-wing hatred, which the media seems to be completely stuck on, though it’s frankly not a “thing” as much as they want it to be. Though the Right does hate the MEDIA, so I guess there’s some truth to it.

It’s the Left that’s vandalizing Bank of America branches and smashing windows, then looting Starbucks. it’s Black Lives Matter that’s burning cities down – that they later realize they actually LIVE IN as well. Being President over stupid people, no matter what their politics, is really a downer.

Now add to that a crowd of 20,000 people in a stadium, and the president comes out to a sea of people all around him, the lone object on a stage and often with light dimmed through the building, while spotlighting him at the same time.

*“The President? No…we work for the guys who tells the President what to do.”*

My goodness, it’s like the Secret Service is trying to make such an attack as easy as possible. Certainly they must realize that they cannot protect him completely – and that when he is potentially involved in a shooting, for example, that jumping on him doesn’t stop an attack be or protect him from all of those people. It just hurts to be hit where you were hit. LOL

There is no way that they would even be able to see an event like that unfold before. That just screams “assassination” to me.

The fact that so many would want to even attempt to kill him and also have this open freedom to express their opinion about it online, Giving some other less stable individual ideas they shouldn’t normally have, is frightening. And in most cases the people that killed a president didn’t even pay for the crime in jail – they were killed themselves or something else before that happened. So there really isn’t much of her justice for the murder of a President.

People rarely contact you at your office when your President because they like you. It’s usually to express sorrow to you on behalf of their government, which means you’re already dealing with some hardship that you don’t really want to hear about from anybody else.

Or some president or prime minister who has the balls to complain to you about the things that they don’t agree with you on from other governments – People that you often or even financially supporting through for federal aid of some kind and yet went to chips fall they’re nowhere near to help you when you need it

US presidents have fans too, I guess but most of the people that gather outside of the stadium or five meeting that you’re attending aren’t there because they like you. Often, those people wouldn’t be that motivated – it’s because they actually literally hate you. I consider myself to be fairly able to handle criticism, but to never be able to read in the newspaper or watch TV or go online without without seeing some negative story about you online or in print or on video would suck the life out of me

Then there’s family – I’m a be mentally or emotionally or physically ready to be president and go through all the scrutiny and all the unfair criticism and all the negative press and all the lies and Tristan up the words – I need to prepare for that emotionally, physically or mentally – but not all of your friends or family members have signed up for that.

Then there is your image before you became president. People want to vote for you for reason and usually it’s because you’re a good communicator and you say things that they resonate with. My problem is that I have a very active Twitter account with over 34,500 tweets, read by my 7000+ followers and over 8,000,000+ some other people total over four years. Some of those are highly controversial, to be sure, And they were meant to be. I am proud of my belief system because I feel I’m on the right side of history and it took me years to get there. I wouldn’t be editing any of that just so I don’t trigger someone in Iowa.

But in order to be president, you have to have such a sanitized belief system and all, that you no longer are who they knew in the first place. Or if they’ve just met you for the first time, they think you are something that you absolutely don’t agree with under the tables. But suddenly you believe in gun-control because you want to New Hampshire female vote, or you suddenly feel led to support the tobacco industry because you want those South Carolina suburban/rural votes – and you may not even dress the way that you feel like dressing. I’m in shorts and T-shirts guy, jeans at best, and I just can’t see myself wearing a suit in every single situation publicly. If I present United States why can’t they wear whatever the hell I want – which accounts. Because you really aren’t the most powerful person in the world. The voter in that swing state that you’re trying to impress is. And they could just be the scariest redneck weirdo you’ve ever seen in your life in real life.

So I just wouldn’t fit the norm. It would suck the life out of me.

So in conclusion, I just wouldn’t want to be President. I’m sorry that this may disappoint some of you, though of course I’m Canadian so I couldn’t be if I wanted to. That didn’t stop a particular Kenyan before, but I digress. America – make it easier for a person to want to be President. It’s the highest office and should be a difficult job to compete for and win – but are we actually seeing the only people in America who are qualified for the job, actually getting the job? Ummm, no

By Shawn Jorgensen, Founding Editor
Calling Out Community
Posted: November 25, 2018
[God’s Got A Plan For You!]

Russia and China Host Joint War Games… On 9/11

UK newspapers The Guardian, The Independent, and the Sun, and many other European news services are reporting today that the Russian Federation has just completed the largest military drill by their armed forces in their entire history. American news bureaus have been largely silent on the matter.

The Russians have made no secret of it – international journalists were invited to witness the event. However, when news sources like ABC News did bother to report on it, they didn’t even mention that thousands of Chinese soldiers also marched with Russia, side by side, for the first time in history. Nor was it specifically mentioned in America that the war games commenced … on the 17th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. Was that a coincidence? Not a chance.

Russia is constantly stoking fears amongst its citizens with the spectre of a possible NATO attack on its soil. Doing so, they have justified the most unbelievable examples of human emergency preparedness in world history – you’ll recall we reported almost exactly 2 years ago, on October 5, 2016, that the Russians somehow were able to hold mock nuclear attack drills with 40 million people – and had previously held a drill with over 60 million people previously. The logistics of such a massive-scale movement of people is hard to imagine – perhaps even hard to believe. It should be noted that NO independent confirmations of these huge drills were ever made.

Must Read:

40 Million Russians Conduct Emergency Drills – WHY?

But the scale and scope of the “war games”, being held for 5 days this week, were hard to miss, as international journalists from around the world were invited to come and witness them firsthand. Oddly, most American news agencies were completely silent on the story.

The three largest branches of the Russian armed forces participated:

Army: 300,000 Russian soldiers, 900 tanks, and 35,000 armoured vehicles
Air Force: 1,000 jet fighters
Navy: 80 ships

The West should be highly concerned that Chinese and Mongolian service personnel will also be involved in the “Vostok 2018” drills, set to include “massive” mock airstrikes and the testing of cruise missile defence systems. Chinese personnel included:

Army: 3,200 Chinese soldiers and 900 tanks
Air Force: 30 jet fighters and helicopters

This is the first time that the Chinese and Russians have held such massive joint military exercises in their entire histories, and it represents a significant geo-political shift in the region.

The five-day mock battles involve more than DOUBLE the number of troops in the entire British armed forces.

Russian President Vladmir Putin watches military exercises in Siberia. (Credit: The Sun)The war games in eastern Siberia were also launched this week on Tuesday, September 11 – the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York. This was no accident of poor scheduling – this was a clear message to the American people, at a time of heightened tensions between Russia and NATO.

Moscow said the exercises – the largest since 1981 – were purely “defensive in character”.

Ahead of the drills, Russian President Vladimir Putin met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in the eastern city of Vladivostok and told him the two countries relations were based on trust “in the sphere of politics, security and defence”.

“It sends a very strong message to China, saying that Russia doesn’t see China as an adversary or a military threat any more,” said analyst Alexander Gabuev, an expert in Russia-China relations at the Carnegie Institute in Moscow.

*Russian tanks during 2018 war games. (Credit: Will Stewart)*He added: “It also sends a signal to Washington DC, saying that if the US continues on its current course by pressuring Russia and imposing more sanctions, Russia will fall even more into the firm embrace of China, America’s only strategic competitor in the 21st century.”

The most intensive part of the exercises will take place about 90 miles from the Chinese and Mongolian borders, where the two nations’ forces will practice against Russian formations.

The huge exercises will be spread across five army training grounds and four airbases.

Meanwhile, news in the United States continues to center around Hurricane Florence, which was built up all week as a category 4 hurricane, only to piddle onto the US East Coast as a category 2 storm – with wind speeds that we have often seen on the Canadian Prairies. It was a non-story that may just have been a diversion from something much more ominous. But at least now you know what’s really going on out there.

By Retro Russia, Founding Blog Member
Calling Out Community
Posted September 13, 2018
[God’s Got A Plan For You!]

CNN’s POTUS Approval Ratings SUCK

CNN released a new poll today, conducted by Philadelphia pollsters SSRS, showing that President Donald Trump’s approval rating is “holding steady” – and his numbers on handling several key issues are climbing, with almost 6 in 10 Americans say things in Hthat country are going well.

BUT WAIT… this is not GOOD news, CNN anchors “libsplained” today to their pathetically-dwindling but faithful weekday mid-afternoon viewers. If you don’t already know it, you’ll soon see why this systemic bias, demonstrated against the current President by “the Most Trusted Name In News” …is exactly why they no longer live up to the tagline.

Here’s some truth in advertising: CNN is actually “The Most Busted, Rusted and Crusted Name in News”. (I want them to properly credit me before they start using the new tagline in their regular advertising )

You may laugh or get mad – but in fact, a March 2017 Business Insider report, using data from a 2014 Pew Research Center study entitled “Political Polarization and Media Habits“, did, in fact, prove that CNN is no longer the “most trusted name in news”. In fact, the American people surveyed felt that their most trusted news sources at that time were all British, with the BBC and the Economist leading the pack. I would personally concur.

CNN provided yet one more compelling reason today (May 7, 2017), when releasing President Donald Trump’s most recent Presidential approval rating numbers, just why viewers have abandoned leftist American media outlets en masse.

I noticed it right away when Jake Tapper, one of the longer-serving hosts currently on the financially-limping CNN, stated the following on air, regarding the current Trump Gallup approval ratings:

“Brand new CNN poll numbers revealing Americans’ perceptions of the Donald Trump presidency – and they look pretty locked in, while also becoming increasingly nuanced below the surface. 41% approve of the job the president is doing, 53% disapprove. That’s about the same as it was at the end of March. Every other elected president of the modern era with the exception of Jimmy Carter had higher approval ratings at this stage of his presidency.” (Jake Tapper, CNN)

What a pile of RUBBISH. Rasmussen Reports, and other much more reputable pollsters (more on that later) disagree. @jaketapper is a disingenuous buffoon. The fact that you are so desperate to spin polling numbers as to suggest that every President should have the same approval rating at the same period of their administrations is just about the most irrelevant “amazing statistic” nonsense I’ve ever seen. I don’t think he’s stupid, but Tapper does say some very dumb things that a person could shoot holes through with very little effort.

Here’s the reality:

No two Presidents have ever faced the same issues during the same period. What a stupid metric to measure Presidential successes by. George W. Bush was President for 8 months when the Twin Towers fell, and his approval rating went through the roof, lasted about a week and then it dropped constantly right until the end of his administration. Franklin Roosevelt was elected in the midst of the Great Depression, so again, of course, he was seen as a hero at a very horrible time in American history.
Every single American President has had a lower approval rating than President Trump has right now – with the exception of Eisenhower and Kennedy (from 1952-1963).

Donald Trump – The REAL Numbers

Yes, Trump “held steady” this week over last – a 41% approval rating, according to the Gallup organization. However, the week before that, he was at 38%. Sorry, a 3% increase IN A WEEK? No one is celebrating that in the media of course, because it kills the agenda they have, which is to destroy his reputation.
That 41% that he is “holding steady” at is in fact the highest rating he’s had since May 22, 2017 (12 months). In spite of all the nonsense that has been dumped on him day after day after day – simply because he won an election that the left just will not accept. It’s embarrasing, it’s stupid, it’s child, and frankly it’s destroying America. Grow up, you whiny little jackasses.
The approval rating amongst Democrats is also at a low 13% – but that’s the highest he’s seen since his inauguration. It was at 50% of that for most of his administration thus far. THAT is a HUGE win. In addition, he’s only had 1 month thus far when his Disapproval Rating was LOWER than this. In the new poll, 40% of Democrats say things in the US are going well, up from 25% who said so in February. Democrats’ approval rating for Trump’s handling of the economy is up 11 points to 26%.
Overall, 57% say things are going well in the US today — up from 49% saying the same in February — which is the largest proportion to say so since January of 2007. That’s significant.

Barack Obama:

This darling boy of the Democratic Party had 30 weeks at 41% or less, 22 weeks at 42% and 28 weeks at 43%. While Trump only had 13% amongst Democrats maximum, in 8 years Republicans only showed 14% approval or more with Obama for less than 20 weeks (that’s about 4% of his Presidency). That by the way included the last 11 weeks of his Presidency, which was when he saw his HIGHEST OVERALL DISAPPROVAL. You know what that means? His Republican approval for a few weeks – was only because HE WAS LEAVING.

George W. Bush:

Bush dealt with the horrors of 9/11 just 8 months after being sworn in in 2001. Of course his approval ratings would be higher earlier on as a result. But he had 91 weeks at 41% approval rating (Trump’s rating today) or less.

Bill Clinton:

The other darling of the Democratic Party, Bill Clinton, also had his bad moments, which included almost BEING IMPEACHED. However, in fairness, Clinton had an overall approval rating that only dipped to 41% or lower for 7 weeks, and that included a relatively strong showing amongst Republicans – kind of the mirrored image of Ronald

CNN, by the numbers:

CNN’s polling company is a woeful embarrassment. In fact, in the results of the most recent survey on Presidential approval, I noticed that on one question – the May 2-5, 2018 approval results, they asked how well things are going in the country.

In the first 3 columns, on the first row, I note that 45% said “Fairly Well and 13% “Very Well”…but somehow this added up to 57% “Net Very/Fairly Well” in this pollster’s world?

Even someone in kindergarten would know that 45% + 13% = 58%

With the publicity campaign of destruction, @CNN, you aren’t winning – that’s clear. The American economy, based on the job that President Trump has been doing, is winning the day with Americans.

You know damn well that polls can be manipulated, asking whatever questions you want in the way you want, to get the results you want. Your pollster, however, can’t even seem to properly ADD so all hope is lost there. The fact you use the same pollster for everything states that they must clearly share your agenda, especially when you both end up so clearly off the mark so often in polling numbers in these Presidential approval surveys, in polling results before and on election day, and now before the mid-term elections.

In fact, RealClearPolitics, which tracks about 20 different polls for Presidential approval, shows CNN has a CONSISTENTLY lower approval rating numbers for President Trump than many of its fellow news sources. That’s kinda sad, because it’s so obvious. To continuously put out these kind of random, ridiculously off-based numbers all the time either indicates some kind of shared mental illness, a shared agenda, or a news source that doesn’t get just how badly they are being duped by their pollster.

But CNN “gets it”, alright – in fact, it reminds me (cynically) that “you get what you pay for”.

Final Word: Rasmussen Reports

Rasmussen Reports still chooses to do an update every weekday to the President’s approval rating numbers, unlike the Gallup organization, which suspiciously stopped doing so in January 2018 – right around the time the President’s numbers started to improve, I note. I also note that Gallup stopped surveying 3,500 people per update, and reduced that to 1,500, while at the same time reducing the update time to weekly. Rasmussen Reports has been rated by the popular Media Fact Check site as having a “High” factual reporting history. They state on their site that “now that Gallup has quit the field, Rasmussen Reports is the only nationally recognized public opinion firm that still tracks President Trump’s job approval ratings on a daily basis.

Why does all this matter? THEIR approval numbers for President Trump for the last week was not 41% as with CNN: It was 49%.

Date	Approval Index	Strongly Approve	Strongly Disapprove	Total Approve	Total Disapprove
07-May-18	-7	33%	40%	49%	49%
04-May-18	-7	33%	40%	51%	49%
03-May-18	-7	33%	40%	50%	49%
02-May-18	-7	32%	39%	49%	49%
01-May-18	-6	34%	40%	48%	50%
30-Apr-18	-7	34%	41%	47%	52%
27-Apr-18	-7	35%	42%	47%	52%

Again, I hear you asking – “why does this matter”? Because, dear reader, in the 2016 election campaign between Trump and Clinton – Rasmussen Reports was the only one that got it right. Had you followed Rasmussen’s findings, as I and many others on the conservative side did before the election, Election Night 2016 was not a surprise to us. We didn’t have fainting spells over the outcome. We knew it weeks before it happened.

Rasmussen Reports’ final White House Watch survey showed Democrat Hillary Clinton with a 2.0% Popular Vote lead over Republican Donald Trump. After all 136+ million U.S. votes were counted, Hillary Clinton, in fact, led the Popular Vote by 2.1%. In a post-election commentary entitled “Issues Mattered After All,” Rasmussen Reports’ Managing Editor even wrote:

“The media created a false narrative about the 2016 presidential campaign, and most polling reinforced it. Controversy was the name of the media game, most of it focused on Republican Donald Trump, and many media outlets, most prominently the New York Times, and many pollsters were saying a little over a month ago that Democrat Hillary Clinton had already won. But the three daily tracking polls – the Los Angeles Times, IBD/TIPP, and Rasmussen Reports – consistently showed a much tighter race.”

In 2012 (see above), a Fordham University study by Dr. Costas Panagopoulos, who once served in the office of then Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, compared pre-election polling with the results from Election Day. The study ranked 14 organizations – but suspiciously chose to omit the results of Rasmussen Reports. However, after the 2016 election, an American Research Group study found that…

Rasmussen Reports had the highest accuracy among 25 pollsters in the 2016 election.

CNN was so shamed by their accuracy over its pathetic, completely off-the-mark disaster on Election Night, that they have attempted to discredit in an article in 2017. But results speak for themselves – when an organization is correct, the one that is so terribly incorrect doesn’t have an argument.

Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Jake Tapper. Or whatever you leftists do for fun.

By Shawn J.
Founder, Calling Out Community
Posted: May 8, 2018

[God’s Got A Plan For You!]

POTUS in Poland: Fantastic Speech, Fake Story

On Thursday, July 6, 2016, President Donald Trump delivered a powerful speech from Krasiński Square in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, to a massive crowd of Poles that greeted him with chants of “Trump, Trump”. The Wall Street Journal said of this speech:

The White House description of Donald Trump’s speech Thursday in Warsaw was simply, “Remarks by President Trump to the People of Poland.” In truth, Mr. Trump’s remarks were directed at the people of the world. Six months into his first term of office, Mr. Trump finally offered the core of what could become a governing philosophy. It is a determined and affirmative defense of the Western tradition.

Today, we bring you the entire text of this historic event. It may be one of the greatest speeches of a President of the United States in my lifetime.

Melania Trump introduced the President with poignant and powerful words, a First Lady of the United States who is graciously growing into the role in a unique and self-determined way.

As a non-American by birth, she has a unique voice to millions around the world who dream the American dream wherever they are. This became very clear when one sentence from her introduction became a widely-distributed meme on Twitter, Facebook and other platforms:

“As many of you know, a main focus of my husband’s presidency is safety and security of the American people. I think all of us can agree – people should be able to live their lives without fear, no matter what country they live in. That is my wish for all of us around the world.” [emphasis mine]

President Donald Trump then delivered a speech that was praised by many surprising sources, including this tweet from a prominent journalist in Australia:

Thank you very much. That’s so nice. The United States has many great diplomats, but there is truly no better ambassador for our country than our beautiful First Lady, Melania. Thank you, Melania. That was very nice.

We’ve come to your nation to deliver a very important message: America loves Poland, and America loves the Polish people.

The Poles have not only greatly enriched this region, but Polish-Americans have also greatly enriched the United States, and I was truly proud to have their support in the 2016 election.

It is a profound honour to stand in this city, by this monument to the Warsaw Uprising, and to address the Polish nation that so many generations have dreamed of: a Poland that is safe, strong, and free.

President Duda and your wonderful First Lady, Agata, have welcomed us with the tremendous warmth and kindness for which Poland is known around the world. Thank you. My sincere — and I mean sincerely thank both of them. And to Prime Minister Szydlo a very special thanks also.

We are also pleased that former President Lech Walesa, so famous for leading the Solidarity Movement, has joined us today, also. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

On behalf of all Americans, let me also thank the entire Polish people for the generosity you have shown in welcoming our soldiers to your country. These soldiers are not only brave defenders of freedom but also symbols of America’s commitment to your security and your place in a strong and democratic Europe.

We are proudly joined on stage by American, Polish, British, and Romanian soldiers. Thank you. Thank you. Great job.

President Duda and I have just come from an incredibly successful meeting with the leaders participating in the Three Seas Initiative. To the citizens of this great region, America is eager to expand our partnership with you. We welcome stronger ties of trade and commerce as you grow your economies. And we are committed to securing your access to alternate sources of energy, so Poland and its neighbours are never again held hostage to a single supplier of energy.

Mr. President, I congratulate you, along with the President of Croatia, on your leadership of this historic Three Seas Initiative. Thank you.

This is my first visit to Central Europe as President, and I am thrilled that it could be right here at this magnificent, beautiful piece of land. It is beautiful. Poland is the geographic heart of Europe, but more importantly, in the Polish people, we see the soul of Europe. Your nation is great because your spirit is great and your spirit is strong.

For two centuries, Poland suffered constant and brutal attacks. But while Poland could be invaded and occupied, and its borders even erased from the map, it could never be erased from history or from your hearts. In those dark days, you have lost your land but you never lost your pride.

So it is with true admiration that I can say today, that from the farms and villages of your countryside to the cathedrals and squares of your great cities, Poland lives, Poland prospers, and Poland prevails.

Despite every effort to transform you, oppress you, or destroy you, you endured and overcame. You are the proud nation of Copernicus — think of that — Chopin, Saint John Paul II. Poland is a land of great heroes. And you are a people who know the true value of what you defend.

The triumph of the Polish spirit over centuries of hardship gives us all hope for a future in which good conquers evil, and peace achieves victory over war.

For Americans, Poland has been a symbol of hope since the beginning of our nation. Polish heroes and American patriots fought side by side in our War of Independence and in many wars that followed. Our soldiers still serve together today in Afghanistan and Iraq, combating the enemies of all civilization.

For America’s part, we have never given up on freedom and independence as the right and destiny of the Polish people, and we never, ever will.

Our two countries share a special bond forged by unique histories and national characters. It’s a fellowship that exists only among people who have fought and bled and died for freedom.

The signs of this friendship stand in our nation’s capital. Just steps from the White House, we’ve raised statues of men with names like Pułaski and Kościuszko. The same is true in Warsaw, where street signs carry the name of George Washington, and a monument stands to one of the world’s greatest heroes, Ronald Reagan.

And so I am here today not just to visit an old ally, but to hold it up as an example for others who seek freedom and who wish to summon the courage and the will to defend our civilization. The story of Poland is the story of a people who have never lost hope, who have never been broken, and who have never, ever forgotten who they are.

This is a nation more than one thousand years old. Your borders were erased for more than a century and only restored just one century ago.

In 1920, in the Miracle of Vistula, Poland stopped the Soviet army bent on European conquest. Then, 19 years later in 1939, you were invaded yet again, this time by Nazi Germany from the west and the Soviet Union from the east. That’s trouble. That’s tough.

Under a double occupation, the Polish people endured evils beyond description: the Katyn forest massacre, the occupations, the Holocaust, the Warsaw Ghetto and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the destruction of this beautiful capital city, and the deaths of nearly one in five Polish people. A vibrant Jewish population — the largest in Europe — was reduced to almost nothing after the Nazis systematically murdered millions of Poland’s Jewish citizens, along with countless others, during that brutal occupation.

In the summer of 1944, the Nazi and Soviet armies were preparing for a terrible and bloody battle right here in Warsaw. Amid that hell on earth, the citizens of Poland rose up to defend their homeland. I am deeply honoured to be joined on stage today by veterans and heroes of the Warsaw Uprising.

What great spirit. We salute your noble sacrifice and we pledge to always remember your fight for Poland and for freedom. Thank you. Thank you.

*First Lady Melania Trump, President Donald Trump, President Andrzej Duda and First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda of Poland. (Credit: Daily Mail)*

Following the speech, the First Lady of Poland, Agata Kornhauser-Duda, was reported to have ignored President’s Trump’s handshake attempt, going first to Melania Trump. not an uncommon thing for women to shake hands with other women first in many European countries – as the women may or may not have

*Media’s “awkward handshake” trumped-up news story of the Polish First Lady supposedly bypassing President Trump was based on this photo…(Credit: Daily Mail)*

First of all, it is not an uncommon thing for women to shake hands with other women first in many European countries – as the women may or may not have direct connection with the men at all, depending on the situation. However, she is seen in the same video shaking President Trump’s hand seconds later, and sharing a very personal moment that was clearly heartfelt and with no ill will involved.

But the fake press had a field day with it, which was to quickly blow up in their face, as you’ll soon see:

*Weasly People magazine states that the Polish president said his wife didn’t snub Trump – they never admitted it was actually TRUE that she didn’t, as you’ll soon see.*

*New York Times licking it’s lips, and soon it’s wounds, over this stupid store.*

Metro.co.uk’s tag line is “News but not as you know it”. You can say that again – especially when the journalistic gleefully begins “Ain’t nobody been snubbed…”. I’m guessing he’s that ‘nobody’ right now.

*No collusion in the media? Take a look at the New York Times headline above, and compare it to his Washington Post one.*

The situation became so ridiculous, that the President of Poland himself tweeted on the issue:

*Media’s “awkward handshake” trumped-up news story of the Polish First Lady supposedly bypassing President Trump was clearly BS. (Credit: Daily Mail)*

Mainstream media gets more pathetic by the day. They are indefensible here, they clearly have evidence of stupidity and perhaps even journalistic fraud. But they still continue to propagate the story in various circles – the vacuous, empty-headed leftist morons that follow them and think they accurately cover anything.

By Shawn J., Founding Editor
Calling Out Community
Posted July 7, 2017. Updated July 13, 2017.

We’d love to hear from you:

Obama’s Outrageous Ozone Offences

Former President Barack Obama and his “wife” (I still believe she might be a he) have spent an awful lot of time on vacation lately. You may say “Oh lay off, he’s earned it.” Well, in that case, I can’t wait to tell you the details of his most recent vacation, because it seems to fly in the face of literally everything he said for the last 8 years.

Pardon the pun, but I literally mean “fly”… and a host of other carbon-sucking endeavours that would trigger even his most ardent fans, sending social justice warriors and snowflakes everywhere scrambling to find some Crayolas and a nice, quiet, “safe space” to colour until it’s all over.

Sorry Libtards, but I don’t think he’s going to stop embarrassing you anytime soon.

*Or the destructive power of a former President who continues to empire-build long after his second term is over.*

On May 29, 2014, the Guardian newspaper reported on President Barack Obama’s unveiled plan to cut carbon pollution from power plants and promote cap and trade – the paper stating that Obama was “undertaking the most significant action on climate change in American history“.

The proposed regulations Obama would launch at the White House almost exactly 3 years ago today were meant to cut carbon pollution by as much as 25% from about 1,600 power plants in operation at that time, according to those claiming familiarity with the plan. Power plants, according to the same article, were America’s single biggest source of carbon pollution – responsible for up to 40% of the country’s emissions.

And now, let’s fast forward three years later, and take a look at Obama’s recent efforts to single-handedly be responsible for the remaining 60% of the country’s emissions. All by himself.

Of course, we are exaggerating – but when you hear just what Obama’s been up to lately, you will start to think that perhaps we aren’t the ones in this story who pulled the wool over your eyes the most. It seems that President Obama the Vacationing Emperor does not march to the same beat as President Obama the Vacuous Environmentalist.

It all started on May 7, 2017, when the Washington Examiner reported:

Now that this dweeb is no longer President (and someone should inform him of that ASAP), and as it seems his “children” have disappeared from the picture, I guess his words no longer need to hold water.

Former President Barack Obama is travelling to Italy to speak about climate change and food security.

He will be in Milan on Monday and Tuesday where he will meet with Italians, “including friends that he made while in office,” a statement said Sunday. It was sent only moments after Obama spoke at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, where he was awarded the Profiles in Courage Award. [emphasis mine]

Obama flew into Milan on a private jet on May 9 and as the Daily Express reported, he pocketed over £2.5million ($3,221,500.00 USD on May 25, 2017) for the sold-out speech to the Global Food Innovation Summit. The Express reported that when he landed in the city, he headed straight for the extravagant Park Hyatt hotel, which can cost up to £7,100 ($9,140 USD on May 25, 2017) a night.

They continued:

In a way, I can’t fault the guy – his sycophants are clearly stupid as hell.

“After bringing the city to a standstill with a convoy of 14 cars, a helicopter and a 300-strong police escort, President Obama’s entourage reportedly took over two floors of the hotel.”

Sorry, but I have to ask the obvious – and I actually hope it triggers Leftists everywhere, causing global mayhem, rioting and weeping out loud in public (I’ll settle for the last one):

DOES THIS GUY KNOW HE’S NO LONGER PRESIDENT?
SERIOUSLY does he know that?

How exactly does one come to a forum as prestigious as this, to speak about climate change and other related topics, and create this kind of carbon footprint when he does?

Yes, that “Profiles In Courage” award was fitting – because I can’t think of anyone with more balls to pull off this kind of grotesque hypocrisy than he has.

Well, except for maybe “Michelle” Obama, that is.

Oh, but it doesn’t end there. As BizPac Review reported last Friday, May 19, 2017:

This guy is about to experience some powerful storms, I assure you, should he continue to travel around like a bloody Emperor with no clothes.

On Friday, the former president and his wife Michelle arrived in Tuscany aboard a private plane, escorted to a military base by six fighter jets, then whisked away in 13-car motorcade to a private villa where the stay costs regular folk $15,000 per night.

But the Obamas will likely not be paying for their five-night stay at the refurbished 14th century village as it is owned by Obama’s former ambassador to Italy, John Philips, the Daily Mail reported. [A whole whack of emphasis mine]

I don’t really care at all how much money he spends on his vacations, or where he stays when he goes somewhere. That’s his business. But are we to actually believe that HE paid for 6 fighter jets to escort him, or the 13-car motorcade? And again, what kind of carbon footprint is this creating?

And again, does this guy know he’s not President anymore?

There, there, little social justice warrior / man-girl, Obama has let you down, we know. But the sun will shine again –
in 8 years, when President Trump’s second term expires.

Now, Obama sycophants, I am providing you with an opportunity to explain the President’s dedication to environmental causes, in contrast with the current debacle unfolding before us. Give it your best shot.

But be warned – if you were to be foolish enough to choose to debate this topic face to face with me, you might just experience my carbon footprint…

…landing dead centre on your rear end.

I would look forward to experiencing first-hand a bit of climate change right before my eyes, to be sure. Perhaps, when I hit the mark, we would even see some global warming.

The science is certain on that.

By Shawn J., Founding Editor
Calling Out Community
Posted May 26, 2017

We’d love to hear from you:

Vimy Ridge at 100: Canada Rises Up

*A cadet stands in front of the National War Memorial in Ottawa during a ceremony to recognize 100 years since the Battle of Vimy Ridge. (Credit: Andrew Foote/CBC)*

The steps of the National War Memorial in Ottawa were bathed in the glow of 3,598 candles on Saturday night, April 9, 2017 – each one lit to represent a Canadian soldier killed in the First World War Battle of Vimy Ridge. Canadian Army Cadets then stood guard overnight at our capital city War Memorial to mark the 100th anniversary of Vimy Ridge, fought from April 9-12, 1917.

It seems fitting to include these young cadets in guard duty this week. They would have been just like all the other boys too young to enlist in active duty as the Great War began. Left behind while their older brothers, uncles, and fathers went to the fight on foreign fields, these cadets, in a very real sense, are a picture of Canada herself in 1917.

Though She was 49 years old at the time of this Battle, Canada’s first half century was marked by very little calamity. That was all about to change on foreign battlefields with names like Ypres, Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, and others. The horrors seen and sacrifices made in this Battle; the military tactical genius that Canada employed; and the bravery of the young men themselves, would lift Canada internationally from behind Her mother’s (Great Britain) apron to a new level of global respect and recognition, a nation that stands on her own, which Canada has built upon ever since.

VimyCross — The large regimental Celtic cross of the 15th Battalion (48th Highlanders) where it stood 100 years ago on the battlefield near Vimy Ridge. Although there were other wooden crosses fashioned by regimental carpenters, this is one of the very few to survive. (Credit: CBC)

As late as February 2017, you wouldn’t have to go further than a church basement in Toronto to view a historical artifact from the Battle of Vimy Ridge – a 100-year old wooden battlefield cross.

Regimental carpenters had pre-built and would quickly paint the names and erect these crosses right on the battlefield, a thankless job that became an art form in itself, as many hundreds of these crosses were erected on far too many bomb-scarred fields across western Europe.

The fact that this cross had survived for a century was a testament to how well it had been taken care of. CBC reported that it had been transported across the Atlantic to France twice, but had always found its way back to its “temporary” 100-year home in Canada.

CBC continued:

The cross was expertly packed for the voyage along with one poppy for every one of the 57 names etched on it. It will go on display this weekend at the newly opened Vimy Ridge visitor centre. (Credit: Nahlah Ayed/CBC)

Etched on its surface are the names of 57 Canadian soldiers, most from the 15th Battalion, and most of whom were killed in the first hours of that assault. That makes it one of only a handful of surviving witnesses — and a real-time partial record — of the heavy Canadian losses in those pivotal opening moments of the battle.

The 15th Battalion was tasked with taking on the Eastern edge of the ridge, which meant advancing over a longer distance, and through more German lines than other Canadian units.

In fact, they expected such heavy casualties with this Battalion that they had actually pre-dug their graves before the battle even began. They ended up with two sites where multiple Canadian troops from this Battalion were buried together, and each was given a cross. This was one of those two handmade memorials.

In February 2017, for the first time in a century, and thanks to the Canadian Ministry of Veterans Affairs, this Celtic cross was flown across the Atlantic, where ministry officials were there to greet it and to transport it – if only temporarily, to the same spot where these people listed are actually buried.

*W.H. Collyer died at Vimy Ridge at 17. The legal age to join the Canadian army was 18, so he would have lied about his age in order to enter the fight. (Credit: CBC)*

On the 100th Anniversary memorial weekend, and for the first time in 100 years, the cross was raised over the actual graves of those men for a limited time.

As dramatic as the story of this grave marker is, it will, of course, be overshadowed by the incredible size and beauty of the Canadian Vimy Ridge Memorial itself. It is by far the most dramatic Canadian memorial to any cause on Earth. At the time that it was being constructed, however, Vimy Ridge was not considered to be as important perhaps as we see it today.

The Vimy Memorial itself changed all that, designed by Canadian architect Walter Seymour Allward, and taking an astonishing 11 years to build.

“Canada Bereft” or “Mother Canada” is the largest statue at the front of the memorial and is said to depict “Canada mourning her fallen sons.” Its inscription reads:

“To the valour of their countrymen in the Great War and in memory of their sixty thousand dead this monument is raised by the people of Canada.”

It is often a quiet place, even when there are many visitors, as it really is a place of reflection.

*The Vimy Ridge Memorial at night, as seen April 6, 2017, just days before the 100th Anniversary. (Credit: Vimy Ridge Memorial)*

And Canada has much to reflect on. In fact, I had a lump in my throat as I was writing a sentence. What those Canadian men and boys did, beginning in blinding rain and sleet, on that early Easter Monday morning 100 years ago, is still today looked at as being a marvel of modern warfare.

Situated in northern France, the heavily-fortified seven-kilometre ridge held a commanding view over the Allied lines. Anyone in the future who would be assaulting the Ridle over an open graveyard, since previous French attacks had failed –with over 100,000 casualties.

Canada was given this task next – and to be blunt, there was some mentality of Canadians being “cannon fodder” in this equation. History shows that Canadian troops, when fighting as part of a larger British Empire force, were often thrown into the front lines of horrific battles, in order to risk less British lives.

Canadian troops go “over the wall” and into a great victory in Vimy Ridge on April 9, 1917. Troops took the Ridge in one day, suffering the greatest one-day loss of life in Canadian history. (Credit: Metro News)

All four divisions of the little Canadian Expeditionary Force – mostly volunteers – were brought together for the first time in Canada’s 49-year history to fight this Battle. Including one British division, they numbered 170,000 troops – over 145,000 Canadians, virtually our entire Army at that time.

If we had lost – if Canada had failed on that Ridge – it would’ve been an unthinkable disaster for our nation, as we risked destroying our entire national Army. I get angry just thinking about the risk our nation was asked to take.

To capture this difficult position, the Canadians would carefully plan and rehearse their attack. To give them greater flexibility and firepower in battle, specialist roles as machine-gunners, rifle-men and grenade-throwers underwent weeks of training behind the lines using models to represent the battlefield, and new maps were drawn up from aerial photographs to guide their way.

*British-dug tunnels around the Vimo Ridge area. One still exists for tourists to explore to present day. (Credit: Wikipedia)*

bring men forward safely for the assault, engineers dug deep tunnels from the rear to the front. Despite this training and preparation, the key to victory was a devastating artillery barrage that would crelate a moving wall of high explosives and shrapnel that forced the Germans to stay in their treaches and away from their machine-guns.

In the week leading up to the battle, Canadian and British artillery pounded the enemy positions on the ridge, using new artillery tactics that allowed the gunners to first target, then destroy enemy positions. Canadians were given an almost limitless supply of artillery shells, which destroyed hardened defences and barbed wire. The Canadian infantry would be well supported when it went into battle – with over 1,000 artillery pieces laying down withering, supportive fire.

*6-inch gun of the Royal Garrison Artillery firing over Vimy Ridge behind Canadian lines at night (Credit: Wikipedia)*

Attacking together for the first time, the four Canadian divisions stormed the ridge at 5:30am on April 9, 1917. More than 15,000 Canadian infantry overran the Germans all along the front. Incredible bravery and discipline allowed the infantry to continue moving forward under heavy fire, even when their officers were killed.

There were countless acts of sacrifice, as Canadians single-handedly charged machine-gun nests or forced the surrender of Germans in protective dugouts. Hill 145, the highest and most important feature of the Ridge, and where the Vimy monument now stands, was captured in a case of bayonets versus German machine-gun positions.

It took there more days of costly battle to deliver the final victory. The Canadian operation was an important success, even if the larger British and French offensive, of which it had been a part, had failed. But it was victory at a heavy cost: on top of the near 3,600 Canadians killed, more tHan 7,000 were wounded.

Prince Charles, the British Prince of Wales, said so dramatically and beautifully at the 100th Anniversary ceremony on April 9, 2017:

Prince Charles and sons Prince William and Prince Harry, visit one of the only still-accessible tunnels used by Canadian troops at Vimy Ridge. (Credit: Daily Mail)

“(The Canadians) succeeded in seizing the vital high ground of Vimy – a task in which many others before them had failed,” Prince Charles said.

“However, victory came at an unbearably heavy cost. This was, and remains, the single bloodiest day in Canadian military history. Yet Canadians displayed a strength of character and commitment to one another that is still evident today. They did not waver. This was Canada at its best. … ” [Emphasis mine]

More than just a memorial to one specific Battle and the nearly 3,600 soldiers who died there, Vimy Ridge became a national place of mourning for all soldiers of the Great War. In fact, there are 11,285 names carved into the monument, all Canadians who died during the Great War but who have no known resting place. The names are those still found across Canada today.

*Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President François Hollande honor the fallen at the cemetery at the Vimy Ridge Memorial on April 9, 2017. (Credit: Metro News)*

The April 9, 2017 ceremony for the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge was attended by more than 25,000 Canadians, with millions more Canadians estimated to be listening on the radio and over television.

To them, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau summarized the day:

“As I see the faces gathered here – veterans, soldiers, caregivers, so many young people – I can’t help but feel a torch is being passed,” Trudeau said in his speech. “One hundred years later, we must say this, together. And we must believe it: Never again.”

By Shawn J., Founding Editor
Calling Out Community
Posted April 9, 2017

We’d love to hear from you:

Liberal Liars and the Trump Immigration Ban

On Friday, January 27, 2016, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order in which he partially banned immigration in the United States by citizens from seven different countries: Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Syria, and Sudan.

This wasn’t a surprise since the president was fulfilling at least part of a campaign promise for a TOTAL ban on immigrants from Islamic countries for an indefinite period. The media firestorm has been daunting, and most people would not have been able to withstand the withering attacks in social media and in all major news outlets all day Saturday. They obviously know very little about Donald Trump.

UPDATE – JUNE 26, 2017

On Monday, June 26, 2017, President Trump signed a new Executive Order, restricting travel by residents of six countries into the United States for a period of 90 days – which included all of the original countries in the January 28 travel ban, with the exception of Iraq. This new Order was crafted to counter the firestorm generated by the news media, and subsequent judiciary intereference in carrying out the original Order.

That same day, the United States Supreme Court said it would allow the government to implement parts of its suspended travel ban against citizens from the six Muslim-majority countries with one major caveat: The ban cannot apply to those with “a credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.”

The state department has now attempted to define what counts as a “bona fide relationship.” Visa applicants from Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Iran, and Yemen will be able to enter the United States if they can prove that a close family member is already living in the US, according to a state department cable seen by the Associated Press. That includes parents, spouses, children, adult sons or daughters, son-in-laws or daughter-in-laws or siblings, but not “extended family members” like grandparents, aunts or uncles, cousins, in-laws, or fiancés.

ORIGINAL POST – JANUARY 28, 2017

Then, less a week after being sworn into office, President Trump issued an Executive Order on Friday, January 27 entitled: “PROTECTING THE NATION FROM FOREIGN TERRORIST ENTRY INTO THE UNITED STATES”, to fulfill at least part of a 2016 election campaign promise. (Full text of the Order may be found here).

Now, this Executive Order isn’t even close to what the President promised to do, which initially was a total ban on Islamists coming into the United States. The libtard news media were outraged that a President would dare do the very thing he promised for 6 months or more to do on the campaign trail. Utilizing the usual gaggle of half-baked celebrity interviews, and panels of “experts”, fake news networks like CNN practically frothed at the mouth with excitement over the story, which they believed would devastate Donald Trump politically.

After the Executive Order was signed, several leaders in the high-tech sector came out swinging against the ban, in a very calculated, concerted effort – and receivedreceving far more coverage from mainstream media than their positions or influence deserved. Why this industry is so specifically harmed by this ban, or chosen as spokesmen for its opposition, is beyond me. However, it should be of concern to federal regulators that privacy piranhas like Google, Apple, and Microsoft are also now admitting to be hiring people from extremely undesirable places in the world, none of which seem to have any kind of vibrant tech sector previously. One could understand a backlash if we banned residents of India, for example, because they have a widely recognized tech sector. But Iraq? Yemen? Somalia? Give me a break – do they even have stable electricity in all of these countries?

Here are just a few of their tweets and statements

Google (CEO – @sundarpichai)
Click here for companion story:

Apple (CEO- @Tim_Cook)
Cook’s full email to staff available here.

Microsoft (CEO – Satya Nadella)
Click here for companion story:

Throughout Saturday, January 28, several news outlets – CNN and the New York Times – were painfully obvious in their biased reporting of this Executive Order:

CNN reported that the ban affected 135 million people. The source of this “amazing statistic” (my codeword for “fake news”) is a mystery. As IBI Times reported on August 13, 2015:

The immigrant population in the United States hit a record high of 42.1 million in the second quarter of this year, an analysis of monthly Census Bureau data by the Center for Immigration Studies, released Thursday, has revealed. The number of immigrants rose by 1.7 million since the same time last year. Immigrants currently comprise 13.3 percent of the nation’s total population, reaching the highest level in the nation in 105 years.

On average, there have been approx. 1 million immigrants a year, and this ban is currently for 4 months only maximum. In addition, the countries named have never been a big immigrant source for America, with the exception of Iraq in the top 10 nations, with at about 96,000 per year.

The countries affected by the ban include:

Iran:

Population: 82,801,633 (July 2016 est.).
In America: 470,341 self-identified Iranian-American (2011 American Community Survey, US Census Bureau).
Religion: Muslim (Shia 60%-65%, Sunni 32%-37%)

Iraq:

Population: 38,146,025 (July 2016 est.)
In America: 215,193 self-identified Iraqi–American (2015 American Community Survey, US Census Bureau).
Religion: Muslim (Shia 60%-65%, Sunni 32%-37%)
Number of Recent Immigration applications: 9,552 (2013), 19,153 (2014)

Libya

Population: 6,541,948 (July 2015)
In America: 2,979 self-identified Libyan-American (2000 US Census Bureau)
Religion: Muslim (official; virtually all Sunni) 96.6%, Christian 2.7%,

Somalia:

Population: 10,817,354 (July 2016 est.).
In America: 126,948 self-identified Somalian-American (US Census Bureau).
Religion: near 100% Muslim, small Christian minority

Sudan:

Population: 36,729,501 (July 2016 est.)
In America: 42,214 self-identified Sudanese-American (2013 American Community Survey, US Census Bureau)
Religion: 100% Muslim (100% Sunni)

Syria:

Population: 17,185,170 (July 2016 est.)
In America: 154,516 self-identified Syrian-American (2015 US Census Bureau).
Religion: Muslim 87% (official; Sunni 74%, Alawi, Ismaili, Shia 13%), Christian 10%, Druze 3%

Yemen

Population: 27,392,779 (July 2016 est.)
In America: 40,731 self-identified Yemeni-American (2014 Community Survey, US Census Bureau).
Religion: 99.1% Muslim (65% Sunni, 35% Shia)

One of the first things I noticed, of course, was that all the flags look the same except for Somalia, which was very strange. I’m sure it’s a coincidence but considering they are in different parts of the world, it’s unusual.

The second thing that I noticed, and probably the most important in terms of what we were just talking about – CNN’s figure of 135 million people being affected by this travel ban is FAKE NEWS. First of all, as indicated above, there are only 42 million immigrants currently in America, growing by 1 million approximately per year. Secondly, in the 7 countries named – just the sheer number of people living in all 7 countries combined – there are over 219.6 million people. So CNN literally pulled this number out of its collective rear end.

2. All media outlets have called this is a ban on Muslims. – this is no more a ban on Muslims than calling off a Toronto Blue Jays game could be construed as shutting down Major League Baseball, or taking an item off of McDonald’s menu would be the same as shuttering the entire chain.

First off, Muslims can be found in all 196 countries of the world – so banning 7 countries out of 196 is 3.5%, not a total ban as the hysterical Left suggests. Nor is a ban on 220 million people in those 7 countries (and not all people living in those 7 countries are Muslim) out of 1.6 billion Muslims in the world (as of 2010, according to Pew Research) valid evidence of a total ban (its 13.7% maximum) on Muslims. The following Muslim-dominated countries are NOT even affected by this travel ban:

3. Big media also credits President Trump for picking the countries himself for this ban. In fact, National Public Radio (NPR) contended that Trump picked countries the family doesn’t do business with. Total BS. On January 21, 2016, President Obama’s Department of Homeland Security announced that it was placing limited restrictions on certain travellers who had visited Iran, Iraq, Sudan, or Syria on or after March 1, 2011. In February 2016, Al Jazeera reported the Obama Administration added Libya, Yemen, and Somalia to the list of “countries of concern”. That is the COMPLETE LIST announced Friday.

4. The Executive Order bans Muslims and/or bans these 7 specific countries. A link is provided above tp the original Executive Order, which President Trump signed on Friday, January 26. The text of the Executive Order is being hosted by CNN – so there is no inherent Trump bias.

*Protesters are very organized – this list was a single days’ activities on January 28. Who’s paying for this and why is #blacklivesmatter involved?*

I defy you to read it from start to finish and find an example of more than ONE of those seven countries (besides Syria) that’s actually even named in the Executive Order. I defy you to also find the word “Muslim” or “Islam” anywhere in that Executive Order – IT DOES NOT EXIST.

The Executive Order refers to “foreign nationals admitted to the United States“, seeking “Suspension of Issuance of Visas and Other Immigration Benefits” to “nationals of countries of particular concern” – the administrative staff then simply used the Obama administration’s “countries of concern” list in their announcement.

It does target Syrian nationals specifically as, of course, there was a separate immigration outreach to them, and President Trump had made very clear on the campaign trail that he was not comfortable with it – because the US was letting in people who had never been properly cleared. President Trump said that a system of “extreme vetting” would be developed to screen everyone from those 7 countries in the future – therefore suggesting that the ban was a temporary one at best.

SO LIBTARDS OF AMERICA REJOICE – there’s no monster hiding under your bed. There is one visible, however, at virtually every anti-ban protest. This particular monster lies to rile up the crowd – which is tantamount to SEDITION.

By Islam Rising, Founding Blog Member
Calling Out Community
Posted January 28, 2017. Updated June 26, 2017

We’d love to hear from you:

Ancient And Modern Connections To “Trump’s Wall”

On Tuesday this week (June 24, 2017), newly-installed 45th President of the United States, Donald J Trump, sent the following tweet to his 21.8 million followers on Twitter (and in so doing, to the world):

The loony left has used this Wall as some tangible proof of Trump’s “inherent racism”. Yet, they show absolute hypocrisy as they do – for you see, a wall already exists in part, has for decades, and you’ll be VERY surprised to learn:

WHO REALLY ordered the original Wall to be built
WHAT the original price tags was to build and maintain a Wall like this
WHEN was it started, and WHERE the project is at now, and
WHY the wall is even necessary in the first place?

[Editors note: We refer to it simply as the “Wall” from this point forward – a capitalized proper noun.]

“So we built the wall, and the whole wall was joined together up to half of its original height, for the people had a mind to work.” (Nehemiah 4:6, New American Standard Bible)

*“Ashurbanipal On A Chariot” by Unknown. He was without question the greatest ruler of the Assyrian Empire*

Ancient history seems to be repeating itself in our modern age as America faces Her greatest challenge in 2017 – the threat from “enemies, both foreign and domestic” – and anyone who has taken the Oath of Allegiance has sworn to protect America from such threats.

In around 605 BC, the civilized world was embroiled in a titanic conflict between great empires – the allied armies of Egypt and Syria (under Pharoah Necho II) were attacked by the armies of Babylonia (modern Iraq, led them by King Nebuchadnezzar II), who was allied with the Medes, Persians and the Scythians (who together form modern Iran). It was by far the greatest military conflict in the history of the Persian Gulf.

Somehow at that time, the little nation of Israel got caught in the middle of this conflict, and the Babylonians invaded Israel after Israel’s King Josiah had been killed, the Israelite army defeated, Jerusalem conquered and her walls destroyed. Over the next 70 years, the brain trust of Israel was deported to the Babylonian empire on a constant basis.

The parallels between little Israel and the United States today, in the context of this story, are more than a bit surreal. Like Israel, the United States found itself the victim of a great surprise attack on 9/11, leaving the symbolic walls of the nation torn down – and the American homeland has never been more vulnerable to future attacks than it is right now.

Like Israel, for decades America seemed to have no leadership motivated or inspired to rebuid those “symbolic walls” and bringing the US back into a position of full safety and security.

Enter Nehemiah in 445 BC.

A high official in the Persian court of King Artaxerxes I, Nehemiah served as the king’s cupbearer (Nehemiah 1:11), which evidently put him in a position to speak to the king and request favors from him. After hearing about the sad state of affairs in Judah (Israel’s southern Kingdom) Nehemiah acquired the king’s permission to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city and its fortifications. He is even given letters from the king to ensure safe passage and to obtain timber from the king’s forest for the gates and walls of Jerusalem.

Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem in 445 B.C. as the provincial governor of Judah. He immediately surveyed the damage to the entire city on his well-known night journey around the walls (Nehemiah 2:12–15). He enlisted the help of the people to quickly repair the breaches in the wall. He also urged them to set up guards to defend against the constant threat of those who opposed their efforts, including the armies of Samaria, the Ammonites and the Ashdodites.

Enter Donald Trump in 2016 A.D.

There are remarkable parallels between Donald Trump and Nehemiah of old. Mr. Trump has been a highly placed official in the United States business community, which also put him in a position through technology to speak to the people directly (as America has no king, the people control America’s destiny). Mr. Trump sought to inspire them (and on Election Day he acquired the people’s permission) to come to Washington to rebuild America and make Her great again. He also had surveyed the needs and announced that, like Nehemiah of old, a physical wall was needed to protect American interests.

In a January 25, 2017 New York Times story, Mr. Trump announced that construction on his Wall will commence as soon as possible, and enlisted America’s help to quickly build the same. Mr. Trump also urged Americans to be on guard against the constant threat of those who oppose their efforts, including neighbouring nations and terrorist groups worldwide.

Nehemiah said that he didn’t want to take advantage of food and land allotments that were due to his office because there was already such a great burden on the people of his province (Nehemiah 5:14–19). He also made the other nobles and officials forgive all outstanding debts and ordered them to return all land and money that had been taken as taxes so the people would be able to feed themselves and their families.

Donald Trump has also refused to take a Presidential salary if at all possible, following in the footsteps of the second-wealthiest President in U.S. history, George Washington, worth am estimated $500 million before he took office. Mr. Trump has also vowed to with the “nobles” in Congress and Senate to cut taxes, restoring the people to a place where they too can feed themselves and their families.

The hurried work of repairing and rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls and gates was completed by Nehemiah in just 52 days (Nehemiah 6:15). Another of Nehemiah’s accomplishments was to make a record and genealogy of all the nobles, officials and people who were then living in Judah.

Today, Donald Trump also has announced a plan to speedily build the wall between the United States and Mexico, and for the sake of general security, has suggested creating a record of certain of our cultural groups in the country that have been perceived as a direct threat in the past, so they can better be tracked while in the country – particularly the Muslim community – and to also deport those who were not in the country legally.

Now It Gets Really Crazy…

*(Credit: US Border Services and Protection)*

You are likely of the belief that this Wall running along the Southern border is a Trump concoction – and many of you believe it is a racist, right-wing, isolationist conspiracy that singles out particular people groups for open persecution from America.

That narrative is all nonsense. Every nation on earth with the exception of America seems to have the right to keep whoever they want out and let on whoever they want in floods. But worn enemies of America have used Her greatest strength as a weakness: flapping the Constitution in Her face and declaring that they cannot be held back… from what we have found out later were some diabolical plans against Her!

The Leftist media, and the Liberal (Canada) and Democratic (US) Parties have made this Wall the ‘Trump Plan’, making him the lightning rod for their deep-seated, propaganda-fueled, revisionist history in the process.

We’re not letting them get away with it. For you see, dear friends, this Wall is not a new idea. It’s not even HIS idea. In fact, it’s not even a new barrier construction project along the Southern border – Reuters reported in October 2009 that, of the 1,989 miles of border between the US and Mexico…

A “fence” already exists on 660 miles (33.2%, or almost exactly 1/3) of the Mexican-US border. Not “under construction” or “in planning”, either. Those portions have already been completed.

And no friends, the United States has not found anyone else so far to pay for it. They don’t have President Trump’s negotiation skills. Nor did they apparently have Donald Trump’s ability to manage large construction projects or to oversee budgets to ensure that things were built in a cost-effective manner.

What you are about to learn, however, is that the Clinton narrative about this Wall being a dumb Trump idea is nonsense…

… because in September 1994, President Bill Clinton introduce the same Wall idea, called Operation Gatekeeper, which included $800 million for border guards, as well as a 10 foot high “fence” (they took pains not to call it a “wall”) in places that would go 8 5/8 miles from the Pacific coast, cutting between the cities of Tijuana and San Ysidro, CA. – the busiest border crossing in the world.

The farthest-West section of the US-Mexican border Wall, between Tijuana and San ysidro, CA - 2010. alive and well already - since 1994. — *The farthest-West section of the US-Mexican border Wall, between Tijuana and San ysidro, CA – 2010. alive and well already – since 1994.*

In May 1999 I stayed a block from that Wall and watched as nightly, hundreds of people would line up with their wire cutters, blow torches or bolt cutters, to cut through the wall and escape. They didn’t have to be the fastest runner in the group – just faster than most of the rest caught soon after. And according to recent media reports, every hole cut in the wall costs $1,300 to fix – over 20 years, that’s $6.5 BILLION, because some of their “fence”. According to the New York Times, the Clinton fence at that time cost between $16 million and $21 million A MILE. President Trump couldn’t do worse than that, but he surely can do better.

The Clinton barriers were built as part of three larger “Operations” to taper transportation of illegal drugs manufactured in Latin America and immigration: Operation Gatekeeper in California (above), Operation Hold-the-Line in Texas, and Operation Safeguard in Arizona. And why did they build the Wall then that they somehow didn’t think we needed still now?

Ninety-six-point-six (96.6) per cent of apprehensions by the Border Patrol in 2010 occurred at the southwest border. The number of Border Patrol apprehensions declined 61% from 1,189,000 in 2005 to 723,840 in 2008 to 463,000 in 2010. Great to see the reductions, but SERIOUSLY, 463,000 illegal immigrants in one year from Mexico alone? And that’s the ones they CAUGHT.

The decrease in apprehensions may be due to a number of factors including changes in U.S. economic conditions and border enforcement efforts. Border apprehensions in 2010 were at their lowest level since 1972.[6]

Folks, regardless of the political nonsense, the wall is happening, the wall is here, the wall is for your benefit. And as we see from the voting record in the U.S. Senate to the right, President Clinton thought the Wall/Fence was important, and Senator Clinton voted in favor of it.

Enough already.

By Shawn J., Founding Editor
Calling Out Community
Posted January 26, 2017

We’d love to hear from you:

Presidential Promises #1 – Jobs, Trade and The Economy

In Donald Trump’s final days on the campaign trail, he promised his supporters that “every dream you ever dreamed for your country” will come true if he became President — one of dozens of sweeping promises he made and is now expected to fulfill

In January, Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post compiled a list of 76 campaign promises Trump had made. Since then, the list has grown to 282, collected from Trump’s speeches, public comments, tweets and campaign and transition websites.

Now, in a series of posts, we will lay out every single one of these promises. We want President-Elect Trump to succeed, and to stay on track with his very aggressive agenda as he does. We want to assist him where we can, and ensure our elected officials in Washington know that we expect them to do the same.

Originally published in The Washington Post. Jenna Johnson is a political reporter who covered Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. Follow @wpjenna

JOBS

Create at least 25 million jobs and “be the greatest jobs president that God ever created.”

*As this best-selling book and Netflix documentary assert, China is killing the American economy.*

Bring back manufacturing jobs from China, Mexico, Japan and elsewhere. States that can expect a rush of jobs include Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan, Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada, New York and Virginia.

3. Encourage manufacturers to build or grow factories in the United States with tax incentives.

4. Refuse to eat another Oreo until Nabisco fully moves production back to the United States from Mexico.

5. Tell Ford’s president that unless he cancels plans to build a massive plant in Mexico, the auto company will face a 35 percent tax on cars imported into the United States. Trump is confident he can get this done before taking office. (Trump has twice incorrectly said this has already happened.)

6. “Get Apple to start building their damn computers and things in this country, instead of in other countries.”

7. Call the executives at the parent company of Carrier, an air-conditioning manufacturer that is closing a plant in Indiana and moving to Mexico, and threaten to impose a 35 percent tariff on air conditioners imported into the United States. Trump predicts the company will say: “Sir, we’ve decided to stay in the United States.”

8. Bring back the steel industry to Pennsylvania and use American-made steel in all federal infrastructure projects.

9. Make the auto industry in Michigan “bigger and better and stronger than ever before.” Trump plans to return to the state each time a new factory or auto plant opens.

10. Bring the coal industry back to life in the Appalachian Mountain region.

11. Require employers to recruit “from the unemployment office — not the immigration office.”

12. Leave the federal minimum wage at $7.25 per hour, which is already too high.

*Minimum wage rates across the globe. (Credit: Eurostat)*

13. Raise the federal minimum wage to $10 per hour, as $7.25 is too low and “the minimum wage has to go up.”

14. Allow states to set their own minimum wage.

15. “Under a Trump presidency, the American worker will finally have a president who will protect them and fight for them.”

APPROACH TO THE PRESIDENCY

16. “I’m going to be so presidential, you’re going to be so bored.” He might also quit tweeting.

17. “I refuse to be politically correct.”

18. “My only special interest is you, the American people,” not major donors, the party or corporations.

19. “Be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.”

20. Pass on the president’s annual salary of $400,000.

21. “I would not be a president who took vacations. I would not be a president that takes time off.” Trump will make time for golf but promises to “always play with leaders of countries and people that can help us.”

22. “I promise I will never be in a bicycle race. That I can tell you.” (Trump has criticized Secretary of State John F. Kerry, who was injured while riding a bicycle amid the Iran negotiations.)

23. “In negotiation, you must be willing to walk. . . . When the other side knows you’re not going to walk, it becomes absolutely impossible to win.”

24. “If I draw a line in the sand, I will enforce it.”

25. “I don’t settle cases. I don’t do it.” (This month Trump settled a fraud lawsuit against Trump University for $25 million.)

President-Elect Trump and his three adult children - Eric, Donald Jr. and Ivanka. (Credit: Vanity Fair) — *President-Elect Trump and his three adult children – Eric, Donald Jr. and Ivanka. (Credit: Vanity Fair)*

26. Fully focus on the presidency and put his three oldest children — Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump — in charge of running his company. (Trump has yet to take steps to fully isolate himself from his business, and his three oldest children have played a major role in his transition team. In an interview with the New York Times on Tuesday, Trump noted that he could legally continue running his business.)

28. Pass the Middle Class Tax Relief and Simplification Act, which will reduce the number of tax brackets from seven to four and lower income taxes for all. The highest earners would pay a 25 percent tax. Individuals earning less than $25,000 per year or couples earning less than $50,000 would not be charged income tax, although they would have to file a one-page form with the IRS that states: “I win.”

29. Lower the corporate tax rate to 15 percent and get rid of most corporate tax loopholes or incentives. Allow corporations a one-time window to transfer money being held overseas, charging a much-reduced 10 percent tax.

30. Eliminate the carried interest loophole for Wall Street, the federal estate tax, the alternative minimum tax and the so-called marriage penalty that affects some high-income earners. Continue to allow taxpayers to deduct mortgage interest and charitable donations from their taxes.

31. “We are going to have the biggest tax cuts since Ronald Reagan.”

TRADE

32. Renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement or withdraw from the deal under Article 2205.

33. On the first day in office, pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, President Obama’s signature trade deal linking countries around the Pacific Rim.

34. Negotiate trade deals with individual countries instead of regions. Trump would gather together the “smartest negotiators in the world” and assign them each a country. Billionaire hedge fund manager Carl Icahn would be in charge of trade negotiations with China and Japan.

35. Identify all foreign trading abuses that affect American workers and “use every tool under American and international law to end those abuses immediately.” This would include cracking down on “sweatshops in Mexico that undercut U.S. workers.”

36. Impose new taxes on imports into the country from companies that used to be based in the United States. Trump’s most frequently cited number is 35 percent.

37. Impose a 45 percent tariff on Chinese products imported into the United States.

ECONOMY AND FEDERAL BUDGET

38. “We will double our growth and have the strongest economy anywhere in the world.” Grow the nation’s economy by at least 4 percent per year, although Trump has also suggested he will boost growth to at least 6 percent per year — if not much higher.

39. Eliminate the $19 trillion national debt within eight years by “vigorously eliminating waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government, ending redundant government programs and growing the economy to increase tax revenues.”

40. Never default on this debt, as the United States can “print the money” or renegotiate the amount owed with creditors, as the self-described “king of debt” has done with his private businesses.

41. Cut the budget by 20 percent by simply negotiating better prices or renegotiating existing deals.

42. Implement the “Penny Plan,” which each year would reduce net spending by 1 percent of the previous year’s total. Over 10 years, Trump says, this would reduce spending by almost $1 trillion. Defense and public safety spending would be exempt.

43. Immediately institute a hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce the workforce through attrition. There would be exceptions for those in the military, public safety and public health.

44. Order every federal government department head to “provide a list of wasteful spending projects that we can eliminate in my first 100 days.” Review each agency and then decrease the size of the “bloated government,” making it “leaner and more responsive to the public.”

45. Stop spending money on space exploration until the United States can fix its potholes. Encourage private space-exploration companies to expand.

46. Stop so-called zombie spending, in which the government funds programs that have had their congressional authorization lapse. By cutting 5 percent of this spending, Trump estimates he could save almost $200 billion over 10 years.

47. Collect unpaid taxes, which Trump says could be as much as $385 billion per year.

48. Crack down on improper government payments, which Trump estimates exceed $135 billion per year.

49. Dismantle the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which aims to prevent the excessive risk-taking that led to the financial crisis and was signed into law by Obama in 2010.

REGULATION

Donald Trump REALLY believes in cutting red tape :) — *Donald Trump REALLY believes in cutting red tape 🙂*

50. Issue a moratorium on new federal regulations that are not compelled by Congress or public safety. For every new regulation that is added, two existing regulations must be eliminated. And those new regulations must pass this test: Is this regulation good for the American worker?

51. Order agency and department heads to identify all “needless job-killing regulations” and then remove them.

HEALTH CARE

52. “Completely repeal” the Affordable Care Act and replace it with something “terrific” that is “so much better, so much better, so much better.” Americans will have “great health care at a fraction of the cost.” Trump plans to call Congress into a special session to do this, which will likely be unnecessary.

53. Eliminate the individual mandate, as “no person should be required to buy insurance unless he or she wants to.”

54. Allow individuals to fully deduct health insurance premium payments from their tax returns.

55. Knock down the regulatory walls between states for health insurance, making plans available nationally instead of regionally. “Insurance costs will go down and consumer satisfaction will go up.”

56. Expand use of Health Savings Accounts, which allow workers to save money for medical expenses without having to pay federal income tax on those funds. These payments will be allowed to accumulate and can be passed on to heirs. These funds can be used by any member of a family.

57. Encourage states to establish high-risk pools to cover individuals who have not maintained continuous coverage.

58. Preserve Medicare and Medicaid but encourage states to root out fraud, waste and abuse. Provide states with block grants of Medicaid funds to provide more freedom in designing programs to assist low-income citizens.

59. Reduce the number of individuals on Medicaid and/or using the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Trump would also cut any health care offered to undocumented immigrants.

60. Make medical marijuana widely available to patients and allow states to decide if they want to fully legalize pot.

61. Push the Food and Drug Administration to more quickly approve the thousands of drugs it is currently reviewing. Trump also wants to “advance research and development in health care.”

62. Bring down drug prices by importing cheaper medications from overseas and allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.

63. Require price transparency from health-care providers so patients can shop for the best prices.

64. “You will be able to choose your own doctor again.”

By Shawn J., Founding Editor
Calling Out Community
Posted December 3, 2016

We’d love to hear from you:

Presidential Promises #2 – Safety, Security and Immigration

Originally published in The Washington Post. Jenna Johnson is a political reporter who covered Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. Follow @wpjenna

BORDER SECURITY

65. Fully fund the construction of an “impenetrable physical wall” along the southern border with Mexico. The wall will be one foot taller than the Great Wall of China and “artistically beautiful,” constructed of hardened concrete, rebar and steel. The wall might cover only about 1,000 miles of the nearly 2,000-mile border because of natural barriers, and Trump is open to using fencing in some places.

66. Make Mexico pay for the wall, “100 percent.” If Mexico refuses, then the United States will impound remittance payments taken from the wages of undocumented immigrants, cut foreign aid, institute tariffs, cancel visas for Mexican business leaders and diplomats, and increase fees for visas, border-crossing cards and port use.

67. “Charge Mexico $100,000 for every illegal that crosses that border because it’s trouble.”

68. “Find and dislocate tunnels” along the border.

69. Supplement the wall with “above-and below-ground sensors, towers, aerial surveillance and manpower.” Hire an additional 5,000 Border Patrol agents and expand the number of Border Patrol stations.

70. End “catch-and-release.” Anyone who illegally crosses the border will be detained until they are removed from the country.

IMMIGRATION

71. On the first day in office, terminate President Obama’s executive orders related to immigration.

72. Triple the number of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

*(Credit: Center for Immigration Studies)*

73. Cancel federal funding to “sanctuary cities” that choose to not prosecute undocumented immigrants for being in the country illegally.

74. Create a Deportation Task Force.

75. Immediately deport undocumented immigrants who have committed a crime, are a member of a gang or pose a security threat. Trump estimates this is 2 million to 3 million people, although experts say the number is much lower.

76. Deport the millions of undocumented immigrants who are in the United States on an expired visa.

77. Deport undocumented immigrants who are benefiting from government assistance programs such as food stamps or housing assistance.

78. Issue detainers for undocumented immigrants who are arrested for any crime and immediately begin removal proceedings.

79. Do not grant amnesty to immigrants who are in the country illegally. “Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation,” and those wanting legal status will have to return to their home country and apply for reentry.

80. Restore the Secure Communities deportation program, which was ended by the Obama administration in 2014. The program was a partnership among federal, state and local law enforcement agencies that worked together to identify and deport undocumented immigrants.

81. “Expand and revitalize” use of Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows the Department of Homeland Security to deputize state and local law enforcement officers to perform the functions of federal immigration agents.

Kate’s Law is dedicated to Kate Steinle, whom an illegal felon and total strangee shot and killed on the Pier in San Francisco, CA, dying in her dad's arms. Later we learned the demon that shot her had been thrown out of the US for committing previous felonies - and was let back in. I hope he hangs. (Credit: DC Gazette) — Kate’s Law is dedicated to Kate Steinle, whom an illegal felon and total strangee shot and killed on the Pier in San Francisco, CA, dying in her dad’s arms. Later we learned the demon that shot her had been thrown out of the US for committing previous felonies – and was let back in. I hope he hangs. (Credit: DC Gazette)

82. On the first day in office, ask Congress to pass “Kate’s Law” — named for Kate Steinle, who was killed by an undocumented immigrant in San Francisco last summer — to “ensure that criminal aliens convicted of illegal reentry face receive strong mandatory minimum sentences.”

83. Introduce legislation named for Michael Davis Jr. and Danny Oliver, law enforcement officers in California who were killed by an undocumented immigrant in 2014. Such legislation would hasten the removal of “criminal immigrants and terrorists.” (Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama introduced the Davis-Oliver Act in June 2015, but it did not go anywhere.)

84. Stop issuing visas to countries that refuse to take back citizens who immigrated illegally to the United States.

85. Allow “tremendous numbers” of legal immigrants based on a “merit system,” selecting immigrants who will help grow the country’s economy.

86. Reduce the number of legal immigrants because it is “simply too large to perform adequate screening,” and these immigrants could be taking jobs away from American workers.

87. Expand the number of H-1B visas for highly skilled workers so that more of the “talented people” who graduate from Ivy League institutions can stay in the United States and work in Silicon Valley.

88. Get rid of the H-1B visa program because it’s “very, very bad” for American workers.

89. Continue to allow lowly paid foreign workers to come to the United States on temporary work visas to pick grapes and work in seasonal resorts.

90. Institute “extreme vetting” of all immigrants.

91. End birthright citizenship, only granting citizenship to babies whose parents are legally in the country.

92. Sunset visa laws, forcing Congress to periodically review and revise them.

93. Strongly enforce visa expiration dates. Complete the biometric entry-exit visa tracking system, which has been authorized by Congress but has yet to be completed.

94. Strengthen and expand the use of E-Verify, which allows employers to check an employee’s eligibility to work.

95. Urge assimilation because “our system of government, and our American culture, is the best in the world and will produce the best outcomes for all who adopt it.”

96. Accomplish more immigration reforms in a few months than politicians have accomplished in the past 50 years. With these reforms, Trump promises: “Crime will go down, border crossings will plummet, gangs will disappear, and welfare use will decrease.”

97. Make illegal immigration a “memory of the past.”

NATIONAL DEFENSE AND SECURITY

98. Be unpredictable and keep all military strategy a secret. “No one is going to touch us, because I’m so unpredictable.”

99. Put “different generals” in place because “under the leadership of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, I think the generals have been reduced to rubble.” Trim military bureaucracy.

100. Find great generals — like the next Gen. George Patton or Gen. Douglas MacArthur — and do not allow them to go on television news shows to explain their military strategy. Trump prefers generals who are rough, foul-mouthed and beloved by their troops.

101. As soon as he takes office, ask Congress to repeal the defense sequester that limited the military’s budget.

102. Strengthen the military so that it’s “so big and so strong and so great” that “nobody’s going to mess with us.”

103. Equip troops with the “best equipment known to mankind.”

104. Modernize and renew the nuclear weapons arsenal.

105. Grow the Army from its current size of 470,000 active-duty soldiers to 540,000.

106. Modernize and grow the Navy fleet to 350 surface ships and submarines. The Navy currently has 272 deployable battle-force ships.

107. Grow the Air Force to 1,200 fighter aircraft.

108. Grow the Marine Corps to 36 battalions, increasing the active-duty force from its current target of 182,000 to 200,000.

109. Involve all 50 states in rebuilding the military and developing new technologies. Create thousands of jobs building these new ships in Philadelphia, Portsmouth, N.H., and Hampton Roads, Va. North Carolina’s Research Triangle will also play a key role.

110. Develop a “state of the art” missile defense system and modernize naval cruisers to provide Ballistic Missile Defense capabilities. It will cost $220 million per modernization.

111. Leave troops in Afghanistan because it’s such “a mess.”

112. Increase the U.S. military presence in the East and South China Seas.

*The exterior of Camp Delta is seen at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay (Credit: PBS)*

113. Keep the military prison at Guantanamo Bay open.

114. Continue use of drone strikes but put a renewed emphasis on human intelligence in information gathering and utilize technology such as “3-D printing, artificial intelligence and cyberwarfare.”

115. Drop that “dirty, rotten traitor” Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl out of an airplane into desolate Afghanistan without a parachute. Trump has also suggested that Bergdahl be shot.

116. “I will not hesitate to deploy military force when there is no alternative. But if America fights, it must fight to win.”

CYBERSECURITY

117. Assemble a “cyber review team” of the best military, civilian and private sector cybersecurity experts to comprehensively review all systems and technology, starting with the most sensitive ones. The team will also remain current on new methods of attack and set up protocols for each agency and government officials.

118. Establish a training program for government employees to make certain they understand what defenses are available and utilize them. Punish those who violate classification rules, holding them responsible to the fullest extent of the law.

119. Solicit recommendations from the secretary of defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff for strengthening and augmenting the country’s Cyber Command.

120. Order the Department of Justice to create joint task forces to coordinate responses to cyberthreats. (The FBI already runs “cyber task forces” in each one of its 56 field offices.)

121. Develop better cyberweapons.

By Shawn J., Founding Editor
Calling Out Community
Posted December 3, 2016

We’d love to hear from you:

Presidential Promises #3 – Veterans and Foreign Affairs

Originally published in The Washington Post. Jenna Johnson is a political reporter who covered Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. Follow @wpjenna

VETERANS’ AFFAIRS

. Appoint a Department of Veterans Affairs secretary whose “sole purpose will be to serve veterans.”

123. Dramatically reform the agency. Fire “the corrupt and incompetent” leaders and make it easier for the secretary to fire people. Trump promises to protect and promote “honest employees” who highlight wrongdoing. These employees will also receive bonuses.

124. Create a commission to investigate “all the fraud, cover-ups and wrongdoing that has taken place in the VA.” Present these findings to Congress to spur legislative reform.

125. Create a White House hotline that is active 24 hours a day and is answered by a real person who will handle veterans’ complaints of wrongdoing at the VA and “ensure no complaints fall through the cracks.”

126. Allow veterans to take their military identification card to any medical facility that accepts Medicaid patients to receive care. Veterans can also seek care “at a private service provider of their own choice.” Trump promises that: “Under a Trump administration, no veteran will die waiting for service. These days are over starting January 2017.”

127. Embed satellite VA clinics in rural hospitals and underserved areas, and ensure that every VA hospital is permanently staffed with obstetrics and gynecology doctors.

128. Increase funding for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries and mental health issues. Increase the number of mental health professionals.

129. Ensure that undocumented immigrants do not receive better health services than veterans.

130. Veterans who apply for a job at a VA facility will have five points added to their qualifying scores. For all jobs across the country, employers should consider veterans ahead of immigrants.

131. Invest more heavily in programs that help military veterans transition back to civilian life, including job training and placement services.

132. “Ensure our veterans get the care they need wherever and whenever they need it. No more long drives. No more waiting backlogs. No more excessive red tape.”

FOREIGN POLICY

“A Trump administration will never ever put the interest of a foreign country before the interest of our country. From now on, it’s going to be America first.”

134. Force other NATO countries to pay for more of their defense, and only come to the aid of other countries if those nations have “fulfilled their obligations to us.” In particular, Trump expects Germany, Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia to pay more for the security the United States provides.

135. Call a summit with NATO allies and a separate summit with Asian allies to discuss “a rebalancing of financial commitments” and adopting new strategies, such as upgrading “NATO’s outdated mission and structure.”

136. Get along with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I hope that we get along great with Putin because it would be great to have Russia with a good relationship.” Trump would also look into lifting the sanctions imposed on Russia after its annexation of Crimea.

137. Communicate with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un about his nuclear program, which would mark a major shift in U.S. policy toward the isolated nation. “I would speak to him, I would have no problem speaking to him.”

138. Stay out of the Syrian civil war. Although Trump considers Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “bad,” he has said the United States has higher priorities. Around the world, Trump has said, he prefers stability over regime changes.

139. Reverse Obama’s executive orders and “concessions towards Cuba until freedoms are restored.” Trump has pledged to “demand political and religious freedom for the people of Cuba.”

140. “Stand with the oppressed people of Venezuela yearning to be free.”

141. Help Haiti and its “incredible people” rebuild their country.

*Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met November 10 at Trump Tower. (Credit: Jerusalem Post)*

142. Be a “true friend to Israel.” Trump says the United States will “be working with Israel very closely, very, very closely.”

143. Do not throw a lavish state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping, as Obama did last year, and instead buy Jinping a “double-size Big Mac” and tell him “we gotta get down to work.”

144. If not properly welcomed into a foreign country, turn around and leave.

145. “It is time to shake the rust off of America’s foreign policy. It’s time to invite new voices and new visions into the fold.” Trump wants to “establish a foreign policy that will endure for several generations.”

IRAN

146. Tear up the Iran deal and then “totally” renegotiate the whole thing.

147. Negotiate the release of all U.S. prisoners held in Iran before taking office. (Five Americans were released during the campaign, including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian; Trump has claimed some credit for this.)

148. Refuse to call Iran’s leader by his preferred title. “I’ll say, ‘Hey baby, how ya doing?’ I will never call him the supreme leader.”

149. “Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon and, under a Trump administration, will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.”

CHINA

150. “We can’t continue to allow China to rape our country, and that’s what they’re doing.”

151. Direct the secretary of the treasury to label China a currency manipulator.

152. Instruct the U.S. trade representative to bring trade cases against China, both here and at the World Trade Organization. If necessary, apply tariffs against China consistent with Section 201 and 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.

153. Adopt a “zero tolerance policy” for Chinese hackers and those who steal American intellectual property and ideas.

154. Crack down on China’s “lax labor and environmental standards.”

FIGHTING THE ISLAMIC STATE

155. Immediately ask the generals to present a plan within 30 days to defeat and destroy the Islamic State.

156. Frequently use the term “radical Islamic terrorism.”

157. Call an international conference focused on how to halt the spread of the “hateful ideology of Radical Islam. ”

158. Allow Russia to deal with the Islamic State in Syria and/or work with Putin to wipe out shared enemies.

159. Work with allies to cut off funding to the Islamic State, expand intelligence sharing and use cyberwarfare to disrupt and disable their propaganda and recruiting. Work closely with NATO and “our Arab allies and friends in the Middle East.” Partner with Israel, King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi and “all others who recognize this ideology of death that must be extinguished.”

160. “Bomb the s — — out of ISIS” and “knock them out.” Also bomb oil fields controlled by the Islamic State, then seize the oil and give the profits to military veterans who were wounded while fighting.

161. Target and kill the relatives of suspected terrorists, a violation of international law.

162. Shut down parts of the Internet so that Islamic State terrorists cannot use it to recruit American children.

163. Bring back waterboarding, which is widely considered torture, and use interrogation techniques that are “a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding.” Even if such tactics don’t work, Trump says, suspected terrorists “deserve it anyway, for what they’re doing.” (Trump suggested after the election, however, that he was reconsidering his position because of a conversation with a general who opposed the tactic.)

164. Establish a Commission on Radical Islam that will include “reformist voices in the Muslim community” and will identify the warning signs of radicalization, educate the American public and develop protocol for police officers, federal investigators and immigration screeners.

165. Temporarily ban most foreign Muslims from entering the United States “until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.” Trump would allow exceptions for dignitaries, business people, athletes and others who have “proven” themselves. Although Trump’s aides, surrogates and running mate insist he no longer wants this so-called Muslim ban, Trump himself has yet to fully disavow the idea and it is still posted on his campaign website.

166. Temporarily suspend “immigration from some of the most dangerous and volatile regions of the world that have a history of exporting terrorism.” Order the Department of State, Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to develop a list of regions and countries to include. The list will likely include Syria and Libya.

167. Create an ideological screening test for all immigration applicants with the goal of keeping “radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country.” For example, immigrants from Iraq and Afghanistan would be asked for their views on honor killings and sharia law, along with their opinions of women, gays and minorities.

168. Heavily surveil mosques in the United States. Trump has said he would “strongly consider” closing some mosques.

169. Encourage Muslim communities to “cooperate with law enforcement and turn in the people who they know are bad — and they do know where they are.”

170. Deport those “who are guests in our country that are preaching hate.”

171. Aggressively investigate and charge anyone who lends material support to terrorism.

172. “Our administration will be a friend to all moderate Muslim reformers in the Middle East, and will amplify their voices. This includes speaking out against the horrible practice of honor killings.”

173. “If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS’s ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been president because this would not have happened.”

REFUGEES

174. Bar Syrian refugees from entering the country and kick out any who are already living here, as they might be “the ultimate Trojan horse.”

175. Create a database of Syrian refugees. Trump has also seemed open to the idea of creating a database of Muslims in the country, although his aides say that is not true.

176. Set up safe zones in Syria and then force wealthy Persian Gulf nations such as Saudi Arabia to pick up the bill. “They’re gonna put up all the money. We’re not gonna put up money. We’re gonna lead it and we’ll do a great a job. But we’re gonna get the Gulf states to put up the money.”

177. Do not admit any refugees without the support of the local community where they will be placed.

By Shawn J., Founding Editor
Calling Out Community
Posted December 3, 2016

We’d love to hear from you:

Presidential Promises #4 – Energy, Environment, and Education

Originally published in The Washington Post. Jenna Johnson is a political reporter who covered Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. Follow @wpjenna

ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

178. Gut, if not eliminate, the Environmental Protection Agency, which Trump has called a “disgrace.”

179. Rescind all environmental executive actions signed by Obama.

180. Eliminate “intrusive” regulations, along with “any regulation that is outdated, unnecessary, bad for workers, or contrary to the national interest.” Eliminate duplication in regulations, deferring to local officials and residents. Remove the “draconian barriers” to allow energy infrastructure projects and development to proceed.

181. Eliminate the Clean Water Rule that defines the “waters of the United States” and gives added protection to tributaries that impact the health of downstream waters.

182. Scrap the Clean Power Plan, which reduces the amount of carbon pollution from power plants. Trump says this could save the country $7.2 billion per year.

183. Oppose a carbon tax on fossil fuels use that could be used to reverse damage to the environment caused by the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

184. Revoke restrictions on new drilling technologies and support “safe hydraulic fracturing” to create “millions of jobs.” Lease more federal land for drilling, including “vast areas of our offshore energy resources.”

185. Ease federal regulations on coal mining to revive the industry. Eliminate Obama’s moratorium on new leases for coal mined from federal lands.

186. Treat climate change like the “hoax” that Trump has said it is. (In a recent interview with the New York Times, Trump seemed to soften that position.)

187. Cancel all funding for domestic and international climate change programs, which he estimates would total $100 billion over two terms. Trump would instead spend that money on domestic infrastructure projects.

188. Pull out of the Paris Agreement, which was recently signed by 196 countries pledging to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

189. Become the world’s dominant leader in energy production. Attain “complete American energy independence” so that the United States is no longer dependent on foreign oil.

190. Lower energy prices for consumers.

191. Ask TransCanada to renew its permit application for the Keystone XL pipeline so that it can be approved.

192. “Unleash an energy revolution that will bring vast new wealth to our country.” Create at least a half million jobs a year, prompting a more than $30 billion increase in annual wages over seven years. This will increase the GDP by more than $100 billion annually. Use the revenue from energy production to rebuild roads, schools, bridges and public infrastructure.

*Everglades water way on a rainy afternoon*

193. Restore and protect the Florida Everglades, even though it’s a “rough-looking sight down there.”

194. Ensure the country has “absolutely crystal clear and clean water” and “beautiful, immaculate air.”

INFRASTRUCTURE

195. Spur the spending of $1 trillion in public and private dollars on infrastructure projects over 10 years. Invest in “transportation, clean water, a modern and reliable electricity grid, telecommunications, security infrastructure, and other pressing domestic infrastructure needs” without adding to the national debt.

196. Negotiate rates for these projects that are one-third of what the United States is currently paying. “Cut wasteful spending on boondoggles” by streamlining the permit and approval processes.

197. Provide tax incentives to encourage public-private partnerships.

198. Employ incentive-based contracting to ensure projects are on time and on budget.

199. Triple funding for revolving loan fund programs to help states and local governments upgrade drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.

200. Create “thousands of new jobs in construction, steel manufacturing, and other sectors” to carry out this work. Only “American workers” will be hired for these jobs.

201. Modernize airports and air traffic control systems. Reform the Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Security Administration to reduce wait times and hassle for travelers.

202. Look to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who championed the interstate highway system, for inspiration.

ETHICS REFORM

203. “Drain the swamp” in Washington and “cut our ties with the failed politicians of the past.”

204. Propose a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress, limiting House members to three terms, or six years, and senators to two terms, or 12 years.

205. Institute a five-year ban on White House and congressional officials becoming lobbyists after they leave office. (Trump is already having staff and Cabinet members sign pledges.

206. Institute a lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government.

207. Ban foreign lobbyists from raising money for American elections.

208. Appoint an attorney general who will reform the Department of Justice “like it was necessary after Watergate.”

HILLARY CLINTON

209. “Lock her up.” Instruct the attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton’s “situation because there has never been so many lies, so much deception.” Trump had said the investigation would include Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state and the ways in which the Clinton Foundation raised money. (Trump told the New York Times on Tuesday this is now a lesser priority. “I want to move forward, I don’t want to move back. And I don’t want to hurt the Clintons. I really don’t,” he said.)

EDUCATION

210. “When I am president, I will work to ensure that all of our kids are treated equally, and protected equally.”

211. Limit the influence of the Department of Education and give more control to local school districts. The department might also see a major budget cut.

212. Get rid of Common Core because it’s “a disaster” and a “very bad thing.”

213. “Be the nation’s biggest cheerleader for school choice,” use the “pulpit of the presidency” to campaign for expanded school choice in all 50 states and support the election of local, state and federal officials who agree.

214. Allow families to redirect their share of education spending to a private, charter, magnet, religious or homeschool. Provide $20 billion in federal funding to establish block grants that states could use to help children in low-income families enroll at private and charter schools.

215. Support merit pay for teachers.

216. Expand vocational and technical training programs.

217. Take away federal tax breaks and other perks from colleges and universities that do not make “a good faith effort” to reduce the cost of tuition and the amount of student debt.

218. “Make post-secondary options more affordable and accessible through technology enriched delivery models.”

219. Push universities to spend their “multi billion-dollar endowments” on tuition, student life and student housing.

220. Cap repayment of federal student loans at 12.5 percent of a person’s discretionary income and forgive any remaining balance after 15 years. Current income-based plans allow for payments of 10 to 15 percent of discretionary income, with balances forgiven after 20 to 25 years.

221. Reduce or end the government’s role in student loans.

222. Ensure that jobs are waiting for high school and college graduates

By Shawn J., Founding Editor
Calling Out Community
Posted December 3, 2016

We’d love to hear from you:

Presidential Promises #5 – Children, Crime, and Moral Issues

Originally published in The Washington Post. Jenna Johnson is a political reporter who covered Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. Follow @wpjenna

CHILD CARE

223. Rewrite the tax code to allow parents to fully deduct child-care expenses for up to four children and elderly dependents. (Some of these expenses are already deductible under the law.)

224. Create Dependent Care Savings Accounts and provide matching funds for low-income families.

225. Add incentives for employers that offer on-site child care to employees. Trump has said companies can “very easily” and inexpensively do this because “you need one person or two people, and you need some blocks and you need some swings and some toys.”

226. Guarantee six weeks of paid maternity leave by amending the conditions of unemployment insurance employers are required to carry.

INNER-CITY POVERTY AND VIOLENCE

227. “Every action I take, I will ask myself: Does this make life better for young Americans in Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Ferguson who have as much of a right to live out their dreams as any other child America?”

*Detroit, the fastest-growing city on Earth in the 1950s, is now the fastest-shrinking city in America. Detroit needs a miracle NOW. (Credit: New York Times)*

228. Rebuild and fix inner cities, especially Detroit. “The inner cities are unbelievably dangerous. The education is no good, the safety is horrible, and there are no jobs. And I tell everybody: ‘What the hell do you have to lose?’ I’m going to fix it.”

229. Quickly end inner-city violence, which Trump has repeatedly compared to war zones. “I’ll be able to make sure that when you walk down the street in your inner city, or wherever you are, you’re not gonna be shot. Your child isn’t gonna be shot.”

230. Create “jobs and opportunities for African Americans and Hispanic Americans.”

231. Reduce the number of people receiving welfare.

232. “And at the end of four years, I guarantee you that I will get over 95 percent of the African American vote. I promise you. Because I will produce.”

POLICING

233. “The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon come to an end. Beginning on January 20, 2017, safety will be restored.” On that day, Trump says, “Americans will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced.”

*Mainstream media reports cop killings as if they were an epidemic. They are not. (Credit: Maggionews)*

234. Stop the surge of violent crime and homicides in Chicago within “one week.”

235. “Dismantle every last criminal gang and cartel threatening our cities. . . . They are not going to be here very long, folks. They’re gonna be out of here.”

236. Immediately stop the killing of police officers. “It’s going to stop, okay? It’s going to stop. We’re going to be law and order. It’s going to stop.”

237. Sign an executive order calling for the death penalty for anyone found guilty of killing a police officer.

238. Provide more funding for police training.

239. Ensure that firefighters are not shot at when they are responding to a fire.

240. Expand the use of “stop and frisk,” which Trump says worked “incredibly well” in New York.

241. Encourage profiling and targeting “people that maybe look suspicious.”

242. “The police and the law enforcement in this country — I will never ever let them down, just remember that.”

SUPREME COURT

243. Pick Supreme Court justices who are “really great legal scholars,” opposed to abortion and fans of the Second Amendment. Select a replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia from a list of more than 20 contenders that has already been released.

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

244. “If I become president, we’re all going to be saying ‘Merry Christmas’ again.”

245. Get rid of the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits tax-exempt organizations like churches from formally endorsing or opposing political candidates.

246. Sign the First Amendment Defense Act if it passes Congress. The legislation, introduced by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), would prevent any federal agency from denying a tax exemption, grant, contract, license or certification to an individual, association or business that discriminates against gays.

247. “We will be one people under one God.”

ABORTION

*(Credit: Conservative Solutions Project)*

248. Defund Planned Parenthood and reallocate its funding to community health centers.

249. Sign into law the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would prohibit abortions after 20 weeks, the point at which antiabortion activists say a fetus can feel pain.

250. Make the Hyde Amendment permanent. Since 1976, Congress has annually passed the Hyde Amendment, banning the use of federal dollars — in particular, Medicaid funds — for abortion, except in the case of rape, incest or a threat to the mother’s life.

GUNS

251. On the first day in office, get rid of gun-free zones at military bases, recruiting centers and, in some cases, schools. These zones are like “target practice for the sickos and for the mentally ill.”

252. Use “common sense” to fix the mental health system to prevent mass shootings. Expand treatment programs and reform laws to make it easier to take preventive action.

253. Rescind Obama’s executive actions related to gun control.

254. Arm more of the “good guys” who can reduce the severity of mass shootings. Get rid of bans on certain types of guns and magazines so that “good, honest people” can own the guns of their choice.

255. Fix the background check system used when purchasing guns to ensure states are properly uploading criminal and health records.

256. Allow concealed-carry permits to be recognized in all 50 states.

257. Impose a minimum sentence of five years in federal prison for any violent felon who commits a crime using a gun, with no chance for parole or early release.

258. Expand programs like Project Exile, a federal program started in Virginia in 1997 that locked up criminals possessing illegal guns for years in federal prisons far from their homes.

259. “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed upon. Period.”

MEDIA

260. “Open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money.”

261. Oppose the killing of journalists. “I hate some of these people, but I would never kill them.”

262. Stop AT&T from buying Time Warner, the parent company of CNN. Federal antitrust regulators would have to review and approve that type of merger.

263. “It’s time to reject the political and media elite that’s bled our country dry.”

OTHER

264. Fix the rigged system.

265. Sue the women who have accused him of sexual misconduct or assault. “All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.”

266. Sue the New York Times for publishing accusations from women who say Trump groped them.

267. Reopen Trump University. (Earlier this month, Trump paid $25 million to settle a fraud case against the now defunct business.)

268. Ensure that Iowa continues to host the nation’s first presidential nominating contest.

269. Boost American agriculture by lessening environmental regulations and ensuring family farms aren’t double taxed.

270. Push federal regulators to increase the amount of ethanol blended into the nation’s gasoline supply.

271. “I will take care of women, and I have great respect for women. I do cherish women, and I will take care of women.”

272. Change the new name of North America’s tallest mountain back to Mount McKinley.

273. Provide more funding for drug treatment, especially for heroin addicts. “We are going to work very hard with medical professionals to take care of those people that are so badly addicted.”

274. Fully protect Social Security benefits.

OVERARCHING PROMISES

275. “The whole psyche [of the United States] will change” on Election Day.

276. “Whether you vote for me or not, I’m with you. I will never ever let you down.”

277. “I will give you everything.”

278. “I pledge to protect and defend all Americans who live inside of our borders. Wherever they come from, wherever they were born, all Americans living here and following our laws will be protected. America will be a tolerant and open society.”

279. Be a cheerleader for America and bring the country’s spirit back. “Bring us all together as Americans. We’re living in a divided nation. We’re living in a very divided nation. We’re going to be brought together.”

280. Bring back the American Dream. “Take the brand of the United States and make it great again.”

281. “We will start winning again and winning like you’ve never seen before.”

282. “Together we will make American wealthy and prosperous again. We will make America strong again. We will make America safe again. And we will make America great again.”

By Shawn J., Founding Editor
Calling Out Community
Posted December 3, 2016

We’d love to hear from you:

Palestinian Phony Politics

I truly cannot think of any other place on earth where the government of a region so badly misrepresents or ignores the needs and wishes of its people, yet simultaneously receives such fanatical devotion and support from these same people – as we witness today within the Palestinian Authority.

*Mahmoud Abbas, third from right, the Palestinian Authority president, at a Fatah party conference on Tuesday in Ramallah, West Bank. (Credit: Palestinian Preaidential Office/Reuters)*

On Tuesday, November 28, the New York Times reported that a special conference of the Fatah political party kicked off in the city of Ramallah, in Israel’s West Bank.

During the opening day, incumbent party leader Mahmoud Abbas was re-elected to another term – and as a result, was handed a further mandate as President of the Palestinian Authority.

Long before the conference took place, however, Abbas had already solidified his decade-long hold on power by purging most of his opponents and stacking the deck with supporters in his favour. Those carefully selected delegates wasted little time in formally re-electing him as the leader of Fatah, the political party that controls the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank – a party closely connected to the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).

*Thousands of Fatah delegates from around the world seated inside the conference hall. (Credit: Haytham Othman/MaanImages)*

“Everybody voted yes,” a spokesman for Fatah, Mahmoud Abu al-Hija, told reporters who had not been allowed into the conference hall for the decision.

The conference, Fatah’s first in seven years, comes as the Palestinians face economic troubles, violent clashes among competing clans and the continuing Israeli so-called “occupation” of the West Bank.

Critics complain that Mr. Abbas’s leadership has grown out of touch. He responded to that criticism by demonstrating his continued grip on the Palestinian Authority and to rebuild the Fatah party leadership with allies.

Now 81 years old, Abbas will now be able to also hold onto leadership for at least another five years, effectively silencing any opposition for the rest of the decade.

FULL STOP Folks, you need to be made aware of a very important point here, and since most Western media won’t tell you this, we will: Mahmoud Abbas is NOT the legitimate President of the Palestinian Authority today, nor has he been for 7 years!

Abbas has been a regular bit player in the Middle East drama played out on Western news programs and 24-hour channels for the last decade, and is always referred to as the “President of the Palestinian Authority”

Cable news has been rushing to the lowest common denominator for years and will just keep getting worse. (Credit: Saysomethingblogcom) — *Cable news has been rushing to the lowest common denominator for years and will just keep getting worse. (Credit: Saysomethingblog.com)*

What’s the lesson in this? If the media tells a Big Lie enough times, we will eventually believe it as fact. On that note, here’s how the situation with the Palestinian Authority Presidency unfolded:

January 5, 2005: President Mahmoud Abbas was elected to a 4-year term by the citizens of the Palestinian Authority, which was to end January 9, 2009.

June 2008: With the next presidential election just 6 months away, Fatah again nominated Mahmoud Abbas as their candidate.

December 2008: However, Abbas shocked everyone when it was reported that he wasn’t going to run for a second term.

November 5, 2009: the Guardian reported that Abbas had publicly announced his intention not to run for re-election – with the caveat, however, that he would ONLY stay until the next Presidential election.

Election Evasion

The timeline above, my friends, is a lesson in how to remain in power indefinitely. Abbas and his party Fatah got into a tug-of-war over the timing of the next Presidential election with the militant Palestinian group Hamas, who are sharing power with Fatah:

July 17, 2010: Originally, the date of the presidential and parliamentary elections for the Palestinian Authority were to be held on this date, but they were postponed several times because of political disputes between Fatah and Hamas.

October 2011: Abbas calls for an election, but Hamas disputes this, stating he didn’t have the authority or legitimacy to make that electoral call – and as a result, Hamas wouldn’t take part in the election.

November 2011: An election date was called, agreed on by both parties.

May 4, 2012: Election not held, due to further bickering.

December 20, 2013: Hamas called on the Palestinian Authority to form a six-month national unity government that would finally hold the election.

April 2014: An agreement was finally reached between Fayah and Hamas to form a unity government, and for general actions to take place within six months of the agreement.

June 2, 2014: Unity government formed.

October 8, 2016 – elections were finally called for this date. Then the New York Times reported that the Palestinian high court suspended municipal elections, on September 8, pending a second hearing after a challenge by a lawyer over balloting in East Jerusalem. Reports are that it won’t happen until December.

2017?: The elections are expected to be the first elections in all of the Palestinian territories since Hamas’ takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007, as Hamas agreed to participate.

*Will we EVER see this scene again in the Palestinian Territories?*

Now, with Abbas solidifying his power this week with Fatah, it could be seen as his way of keeping control regardless of the elections – or he may even be attempting to scuttle them yet again. The PLO wants him to name a successor, which seems unlikely after giving Abbas a 5-year extension. The bickering is sure to continue.

Meanwhile the Palestinian people protest Israel’s treatment of them, but seem to still support this sham government, but not Abbas – a June 2-4 poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research were clear and surprising:

The survey, conducted June 2-4, showed that 65% of the public in the West Bank and Gaza Strip want President Mahmoud Abbas to resign. “Demand for Abbas’ resignation stands at 64% in the West Bank and 67% in the Gaza Strip,” read the findings. The survey indicated that 31% want Abbas to remain in office.

If presidential elections were held now, according to the poll, Abbas and two other candidates — Ismail Haniyeh, deputy chairman of Hamas’ political bureau, and Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, who is currently incarcerated in Israel — would receive 20%, 35% and 40% of the vote, respectively.

That must be a punch in the gut to Abbas, knowing that the Palestinian people would rather elect someone in JAIL IN ISRAEL FOR LIFE over him? And is it any wonder? We have reported in the past that:

the Palestinian government had been building a palace for the president at a time when they were also asking for donations from the international community in order to keep themselves from starving. In that same story, we also shared the REAL story the media didn’t want to tell you about the electric power being turned off for 45 minutes in winter across the Palestinian Authority… because the Palestinian government had not paid their $500 million power bill for over a year!

the Pope seemingly had told the News media, when visiting Israel, that Mahmoud Abbas was an “angel”?

Sodastream, an Israeli company had became a major target for the BDS movement, and as a result 600 Palestinians lost their jobs when the plant was forced to move out of the Palestinian Territories. The attitude of the Palestinian spokesman was very revealing, having stated that some collateral damage was necessary in this war against Israel. I should note that these Palestinian workers were making up to 5 TIMES what they could have made in the Palestinian Territories for a similar position. Photos of the workers weeping on their last day at the plant went viral around the world.

Continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

By Islam Rising, Founding Blog Member
Calling Out Community
Posted Decembe 1, 2016

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