SandyPundits.com: February 2017

Hollywood used to be a place where larger-than-life celebrities possessed the intangible quality of “star power.” However, things have changed over the course of time and have done so in a manner that appears to be as dramatic as the cinematic art itself so frequently manifests. The Academy Award ceremonies are supposedly designed to honor excellence in the most prestigious form of entertainment. But the dearth of noteworthy films and relatable content, and the inability of stars to keep their politics to themselves, all serve to illustrate how out of touch with the viewing public the industry has become. In a town famous for its creativity in production, Hollywood still cannot seem to get its act together. [more...]

Healthcare Consumerism - The Power of Patient Choice

By Dr. Elaina George

The Affordable Care Act was never about healthcare; it was about control. The law was passed in 2010 using a slick campaign of promises that were never meant to be kept including the now familiar tag lines ‘if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor’ and ‘affordable health insurance for both uninsured and those uninsurable because of pre-existing health conditions.’ In reality, it was a complex mix of taxes that effectively orchestrated a transfer of wealth from the working and middle class to the government in the form of taxes, and to the medical corporate complex (health insurance, Big Pharma and corporate hospitals) in the form of give away in the guise of mandates and corporate welfare. The ACA is a house of cards that has been sustained by the tried and true method of divide and conquer - by separating people into aggrieved interest groups and creating a framework that creates strawmen who can be vilified. It is time to redefine what quality healthcare means. Instead of being considered a right, perhaps it is time to think of it as a service. [more...]

How to Escape the Dollar Trap

“There is no such thing as a global anthem, a global currency, or a global flag,” said President Donald Trump at the Conservative Political Action Conference days ago. “This is the United States of America that I’m representing.” But there is a global currency, wrote economist Ralph Benko: the U.S. Dollar, which since the end of World War II has been the “world’s reserve currency” - once a blessing but now a curse. The dollar was formally crowned with this title and power then by the Bretton Woods Agreement, whereby most of the world’s industrial nations agreed that the U.S. currency would be pegged to gold at a fixed value of $35/ounce, and other major currencies would be pegged to the dollar. [more...]

Why Do Democrats Hate Our Military?

By Joe Messina

President Trump’s clarion call, “Peace Through Strength” is his impetus to move forward strengthening the military. But history has shown Democrats do just the opposite. Jimmy Carter decided, as did Mr. Obama, that America should seek peace through weakness. He cut military spending and overlooked many issues in the Middle East. He felt it was our strength that was causing tensions with Russia, to the point of ordering his administration to dismantle 200 to 250 nuclear weapons on naval vessels in Europe and the Middle East. That worked out well! He proposed cuts to operations and maintenance, reduced training and alert status equipment, and more. This made our B-52 aircraft, assigned to the Strategic Air Command to be ready, at the lowest it had been since before the war with only 1/3 of the equipment needed to keep us safe. This, he felt, would show the world we weren’t bullies. Is this in the Dems’ DNA? After Reagan left the most peace-keeping, combat-ready force on the planet, we had peace in the Middle East, a dismantled Soviet empire, the respect of our allies, and a healthy fear from our enemies. [more...]

#OSCARSSOOUTOFTOUCH

The Academy Awards are a great annual tradition in which the bubble of Hollywood celebrities, their fashion designers and agents float to the surface. The industry has become a more pompous joke than ever. It's a joke in which a Big Bang Theory second banana tows his girlfriend around to demand that Muslim migrants be let into the country. It's the joke in which Meryl Streep whines about how mean everyone is to celebrities and Aaron Sorkin accuses the rest of the country of being out of touch with his city. The whole point here is to mock and sneer at President Trump and his voters. But the joke is really on the celebrity industry. [more...]

Is Trump Bracing for a Russian Storm?

By John LeBoutillier

Why does President Trump always want to kill the messenger? Is he bracing for a Russian storm? Listen to the latest version of REVOLUTION_The Podcast... [more...]

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

2-23-17 Excellent Guests for Your Show

1. Michael Stumo: WSJ Goes After Trump

2. Lowell Ponte: President Trump Fights the “Deep State”

3. Pranav Jandhyala: UC Berkeley Update

4. John LeBoutillier: Newsmax CEO on POTUS

WSJ Goes After Trump

By Michael Stumo

The most recent outrage for the globalists at the Wall Street Journal editorial board is a proposed Trump administration effort to resolve two different versions of government reported trade statistics for the better. Since the WSJ opinion editors do not think trade deficits matter at all, one wonders why they are incensed about the statistical change that would show deeper trade deficits than previously reported with some countries. The WSJ outrage piece is glaringly inaccurate. The article wrongly states that the Trump administration is only excluding the export side of the Pass Through goods. [more...]

President Trump Fights the “Deep State”

The bureaucracy has become part of the “Deep State,” the “Machine” that monetary expert Craig R. Smith and I discuss in our book, Money, Morality & The Machine: Smith’s Law in an Unethical, Over-Governed Age. The outcome of President Trump’s battle with the bureaucracy could determine whether America’s Constitution and economy survive. It is literally a battle to the death, liberty versus the government our framers tried so hard to control. [more...]

UC Berkeley Update

By Pranav Jandhyala

I spoke to radio talk show hosts from across the nation this past week about the issue of free speech on college campuses, the protests at UC Berkeley, and BridgeCal. The overwhelming sentiment is complete and utter disgust at the liberal establishment. To them, the dominant liberal position seems to be unapologetically supporting violence as a means to the end of political discussion. Many conservatives I’ve talked to across the country view liberal students at schools like UC Berkeley not as individuals who are willing to actively challenge what they think they know and believe, but as people who actively engage in the destruction of property, people and fundamental First Amendment ideals. But in these past several weeks alone, in the development of Bridgecal, we’ve seen hundreds of students come out to discuss the complexity of different issues they have strong opinions on. [more...]

Pranav is a student at UC Berkeley studying business and political science. He is the founder and president of BridgeCal, a nonpartisan political organization that seeks to bridge the political divide on campus and in the nation through a platform of free and open discourse between people who disagree with each other.

Newsmax CEO on POTUS

By John LeBoutillier

Please join me as we talk about the state of the Trump presidency with Chris Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax - a long-time Trump friend and Mar-a-Lago member - and hear the advice he has been giving our 45th POTUS. Listen to my latest version of REVOLUTION_The Podcast. [more...]

2-22-17 Great Guests for Your Show

1. James Hirsen: Leak Investigations May Lead to Unexpected Places

2. Michelle Seiler-Tucker: Kraft Heinz Unilever Deal

3. David Horowitz: TALKERS Touts Success of Trump 'Big Agenda' Book

4. Daniel Greenfield: President Trump Condemns Anti-Semitism as Anti-Semite Leads Race to Head Dems

5. Joseph Klein: Nikki Haley Puts UN Anti-Israelism in Crosshairs

Leak Investigations May Lead to Unexpected Places

A mere few days before then-president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, former President Obama expanded the ability of intelligence agencies to share unfiltered telephone surveillance information. The Obama administration issued Executive Order 12333, which allows the National Security Agency (NSA) to share raw intercepted communications with agencies that include the FBI, DEA, and Department of Homeland Security, among others. Numerous press reports at the time indicated that the Obama Justice Department and the FBI sought Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants against Trump campaign insiders and then-presidential candidate Trump himself during the final months of the presidential campaign. [more...]

Kraft Heinz Unilever Deal

By Michelle Seiler-Tucker

The big merger news coming out of the weekend was Kraft Heinz Co. making an unsolicited bid for Unilever PLC. In a short time, the deal was off; Unilever rejected the $143 billion takeover offer saying it “fundamentally undervalues” the company. Meanwhile, Kraft Heinz announced it was withdrawing its bid for the international consumer products giant. A deal this size would have been one of the largest ever; in the history of the food and beverage industry, it would have narrowly topped Anheuser-Busch InBev’s 2016 takeover of SABMiller. The deal would have certainly affected the marketplace. [more...]

TALKERS Touts Success of Trump 'Big Agenda' Book

The new book by David Horowitz, 'Big Agenda: President's Trump's Plan to Save America,' just hit the New York Times bestseller list and is featured in yesterday’s edition of TALKERS. 'Big Agenda' is the first and best book on President Trump's plans. Rush Limbaugh has endorsed the book and David Horowitz is making the rounds on major talk radio shows, after interviews on Fox News, Newsmax TV and other outlets. Make sure you book David, as Trump will be releasing some surprising plans soon. [more...]

President Trump Condemns Anti-Semitism as Anti-Semite Leads Race to Head Dems

President Donald J. Trump condemned anti-Semitism, including the slew of bomb threats phoned in to Jewish community centers. "Anti-Semitism is horrible, and it's going stop and it has to stop. The anti-Semitic threats targeting our Jewish community and community centers are horrible and are painful, and a very sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate and prejudice and evil," the president said. The perpetrators of the threats remain unknown, but a certain quality of trolling has been attributed to them. Meanwhile Democrat officials appeared on stage with Farrakhan as he denounced the Jews. [more...]

Nikki Haley Puts UN Anti-Israelism in Crosshairs

By Joseph Klein

The Trump administration’s U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, has hit the ground running. She spoke truth to power by strongly calling out the UN for its anti-Israel bias and double standards. Her predecessor, Samantha Power, never came close. After attending her first regular meeting of the UN Security Council devoted to the Middle East, including the Palestinian-Israeli situation, Ambassador Haley remarked to reporters, “The first thing I want to do is talk about what we just saw in there.” Calling the meeting “a bit strange,” Ambassador Haley noted how the focus of blame for everything that has gone wrong in the Middle East seemed to be placed almost entirely on Israel. [more...]

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

2-15-17 Great Guests for Your Show

1. Pranav Jandhyala: Beaten at the UC Berkeley Milo Event

2. Michelle Seiler-Tucker: Mining M&A Poised for a Busy 2017

3. Crista Huff: Dodd-Frank - Another Rule Bites the Dust

4. Lowell Ponte: Trump Should Reform the Forfeiture Laws

5. Daniel Greenfield: Slavery and Rape Aren’t Wrong when Muslims Do It

Beaten at the UC Berkeley Milo Event

By Pranav Jandhyala

I am a UC Berkeley student who's been involved with everything that's been going on this past week with the Milo protests. Professor Bill Shireman is sponsoring me because he thinks it’s an important story. I was a journalist on the night of the protests and was beaten by ANTIFA protesters for filming the violence, and when I wrote an editorial condemning the violence and calling for a new free speech movement at Berkeley, the Daily Cal rejected it twice. Our school newspaper only published op-eds that supported the violence. My editorial has since been published on The Huffington Post: [more...]

Mining M&A Poised for a Busy 2017

By Michelle Seiler-Tucker

No need to dig deep to find activity in the mining sector. Coming off a positive end to 2016, Ernst and Young expects mergers and acquisitions in the mining sector to pick up right where they left off. The positive environment in the equity markets and strengthening investor confidence are leading drivers of the high 2017 expectations. There are several industry-specific factors and general patters behind the M&A activity. [more...]

Dodd-Frank - Another Rule Bites the Dust

By Crista Huff

A costly Dodd-Frank-related rule affecting the energy industry - the Securities and Exchange Commission’s resource extraction rule - is heading toward repeal. The final version of the rule, which was approved in June 2016 for enforcement beginning in 2018, required “resource extraction issuers to disclose payments made to governments for the commercial development of oil, natural gas or minerals.” This rule affected public companies - companies that trade on the stock exchange - but did not affect their private company competitors, nor many foreign competitors, creating an unbalanced playing field. [more...]

Trump Should Reform the Forfeiture Laws

In 2015, American law enforcement used civil asset forfeiture laws to seize more than $5 billion from people. This is more money than was stolen in all burglaries, combined that year, as Craig R. Smith and I document in our latest book, Money, Morality & The Machine: Smith’s Law in an Unethical, Over-Governed Age. When Ronald Reagan supported the wide use of civil asset forfeiture, his aim was to stop letting crime pay by confiscating what its dirty money – especially illegal drug money – buys. President Trump and his Attorney General Jeff Sessions, as defenders of capitalism and private property, ought to oppose the way civil asset forfeiture laws are now sometimes misused against innocent citizens by money-hungry governments. [more...]

Slavery and Rape Aren’t Wrong when Muslims Do It

"I don’t think it’s morally evil to own somebody."

"A male owner of a female slave has the right to sexual access to her.”

These views don’t come from an ISIS underground bunker, but out of the brilliantly lit halls of Georgetown University where rape and slavery are defended by an Islamic studies professor. Georgetown had changed the names of Mulledy Hall and McSherry Hall because Mulledy and McSherry had once been involved in selling some slaves back in the early 19th century. When Christina Hoff Sommers spoke at Georgetown, feminists demanded trigger warnings and a university official threatened College Republicans. But defending actual slavery and rape is still okay at Georgetown... so long as it’s committed by Muslims under the license of the Koran. [more...]

Monday, February 13, 2017

2-14-17 Expert Guests for Your Show

1. Michael Stumo: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in GOP Tax Reform

2. James Hirsen: Grammys Strike a Sour Note

3. Kerry Lutz: Hasta la vista, de Blasio!

4. Dr. Gerard Lameiro: Will the Anti-Trump Left Prevent Trump from Succeeding?

5. Joe Messina: Impeach Trump? Dem Double Standards

6. John LeBoutillier: Is Trump in Over His Head?

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in GOP Tax Reform

By Michael Stumo

The House GOP Tax Reform plan is very bold and includes some very helpful conceptual shifts. But it has some very strange results, too. Let's take a look at how it matches up against CPA's preferred tax reform for trade competitiveness. Speaker Paul Ryan and Chairman Kevin Brady (Ways and Means Committee) have proposed a very interesting destination based cash flow (DBCF) tax for business tax reform. The plan has these important features: [more...]

Grammys Strike a Sour Note

This awards season has had many of the viewing public appalled as they watched entertainment film and television luminaries shift from self-congratulatory mode to political preaching overdrive. Prior to the 59th Grammys, industry insiders had already telegraphed that Sunday night’s show would feature music stars who were free to let loose and air their political grievances. And so they did. Oftentimes comments were delivered with not-so-clever implications and other times with pure vitriol. [more...]

Hasta la vista, de Blasio!

By Kerry Lutz

Will Mayor de Blasio be indicted? There are many investigations swirling around NYC Mayor Comrade Bill de Blasio. Among the numerous possible prospective charges are bribery, pay-for-play, performing illegal favors for contributors and a laundry list of criminal acts. A meeting between Bharara and de Blasio is to take place to allow the Mayor to explain his knowledge of the above. As any first-year law student knows, nothing good can come of it. Especially because de Blasio is a fool, a poor judge of his own limited talents, a buffoon of the lowest order and an all around idiot, as exemplified by his recent statement that “Illegal aliens driving drunk isn’t a serious crime.” [more...]

Will the Anti-Trump Left Prevent Trump from Succeeding?

By Dr. Gerard Lameiro

No! They will fail decisively. Their non-organic movement will fade and their funding will dry up. Donors will catch on that their approach is out of touch with the American people and there is no point to continue to fund these activities. President Trump will protect America from global terrorism, will restore law and order in our cities, and will re-ignite our economy with 4% annual GDP growth. His successes will change the mood of America and make the Anti-Trump Left irrelevant to the American people. [Go here to identify who the Anti-Trump Left is and what their objectives are...]

Impeach Trump? Dem Double Standards

By Joe Messina

Even before he took office, we started hearing and seeing protesters (rioters) who wanted Trump impeached. NEWSFLASH for the low IQ protesters: you need to be in office first and commit an impeachable offense. I’m not really worried about this action. Most of them don’t even know what an impeachable offense is or else they would have done it to Obama, right? Because if they know what an impeachable offense is and they chose to ignore it with Obama, like they refused to charge the head of the IRS and Hillary Clinton with anything, then it solidifies my mantra from last year: “Dems believe themselves to be superior in all things, including being above the law over Republicans” and they believe that any thought that comes between their two ears has to be right and just and everything Republicans say is unjust... EVEN if they’re the exact same words that a Dem may have said years or even months earlier. [more...]

Is Trump in Over His Head?

By John LeBoutillier

Three weeks in and is President Trump in over his head? There’s never been a presidency that has gotten off to a worse start - it’s been one fiasco after another. Listen to my latest version of REVOLUTION_The Podcast. [more...]

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

The Workaholic in Chief

By Kerry Lutz

Welcome to a new administration and a new political paradigm. Donald Trump is the first workaholic president since LBJ. He is said to be up working till all hours of the night, subsisting on just 4 hours of sleep. He starts his days off at 5:30 am setting the news cycle with a barrage of tweets, and then it’s on to more important matters. This is in stark contrast to the prior White House occupant who was more often found on the golf course, watching ESPN in his second-floor study and generally doing everything in his power to avoid putting in a full day at the office, Oval or otherwise. “W” was home at the residence by 9 pm cuddling up with Laura; and Bill Clinton was too busy chasing skirts or hob-knobbing with the rich and famous to ever take the office too seriously. [more...]

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

2-7-17 Great Guests for Your Show

1. James Hirsen: The Tarnishing of the Hollywood Brand

2. Joel Gilbert: Iran's Nuclear Agenda, ISIS, and the Challenge to Trump

3. Crista Huff: The Fiduciary Rule is the Obamacare of the Investment Industry

4. Dr. Gerard Lameiro: Why Does the Left Oppose Democracy?

5. Michelle Seiler-Tucker: Business First Says Major Tech Companies

6. Lowell Ponte: The IRS Builds its Own Wall

The Tarnishing of the Hollywood Brand

Hollywood is its own brand. And although the name itself used to be synonymous with inspiration, innovation, talent, quality, and creativity in all things entertainment, the brand of one of the country’s most unique industries appears to be on a distinctly downward trajectory. Multiple factors are responsible for the degradation of an impeccably crafted decades-long image, and these factors may even lead to its ultimate demise. But of all of the things that have had a minor or major impact, nothing has been more deleterious to the brand than the angry appearance and hateful words of Hollywood’s celebrities, who like it or not are the “face” of Hollywood’s products. [more...]

Iran's Nuclear Agenda, ISIS, and the Challenge to Trump

Joel Gilbert, an expert on Iran and Islamism, says, "The West's failure to understand Iranian goals and the Islamist agenda, and their obsession with eliminating Israel, is the greatest danger now facing the West." Gilbert also discusses ISIS and their role in the Middle East and their war against Western interests. A graduate of the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, Gilbert has produced two features films on Middle East politics: Atomic Jihad (2010) and Farewell Israel (2007). He was an advisor to the Cruz for President campaign in 2016.

The Fiduciary Rule is the Obamacare of the Investment Industry

By Crista Huff

President Trump signed a memorandum on February 3, 2017 which directs the Department of Labor to undertake a new “economic and legal analysis” of a pending piece of Dodd-Frank legislation - the new Department of Labor Fiduciary Rule - which was to be implemented in April. The memorandum seeks to determine whether investors and the financial industry have been and will be harmed by the directive, in the areas of access to financial advice, access to investment products, job loss within the financial industry, changes in investment costs and increased litigation. Many news outlets misreported that the President issued an executive order that halted implementation of the Fiduciary rule, but that was not the case. “To the extent that the new analysis reveals problems, the Labor secretary is directed to ‘publish for notice and comment a [new] proposed rule rescinding or revising the rule.’” [more...]

Why Does the Left Oppose Democracy?

By Dr. Gerard Lameiro

Ever since Trump won the presidential election, we see the Left opposing democracy. The Left is not just against America’s Constitution, our Bill of Rights, and our Electoral College system of electing a president, they seem to be against true democracy as well. Indeed, the Left has moved over the years from being liberal, to being progressive, to being socialist, and now it appears they are moving to being totalitarian and anti-democratic. [more...]

Business First Says Major Tech Companies

By Michelle Seiler-Tucker

Big news over the weekend came from states, organizations, and public and private companies speaking out against President Trump’s immigration restrictions. Moreover, the long-awaited Super Bowl commercials took their 30-second to 1-minute ad space to fuel the controversy. It seems that the heavyweights are trying to warn the country that this action could hurt our economy. On Sunday, major U.S. tech companies such as Alphabet (Google), Apple, Facebook, and nearly 100 others, argued in a letter to the President that banning visitors would hurt their businesses. [more...]

The IRS Builds its Own Wall

Is the wall only to keep illegals out, or is it also to keep the rich in? The Internal Revenue Service, which many hope Mr. Trump will rein in, on January 25 asserted its power to revoke the passports of those the IRS says owe taxes. In our latest book, Money, Morality & The Machine, Craig R. Smith and I warned of this. This new Progressive rule declares that citizens who owe taxes would not be permitted to leave the United States. These citizens would be required to pay the demanded tax and penalties to exit, or live out their lives without leaving the United States under a kind of nationwide house arrest. [more...]

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

2-2-17 Excellent Guests for Your Show

1. Wayne Allyn Root: Drain the Swamp? Start with Ben Rhodes on Holocaust Council

2. Daniel Greenfield: ‘If We Don’t Let Muslims Into America, They’ll Kill Us’

3. Joel Gilbert: Obama Continuing Leftist Revolution Post-Presidency

4. Joseph Klein: President Trump Does Scalia Justice with Gorsuch Pick

5. David Horowitz: Berkeley Campaign Was to Oppose Sanctuary Campuses

Drain the Swamp? Start with Ben Rhodes on Holocaust Council

By Wayne Allyn Root

Obama made many shocking, damaging attacks on Israel; the list is so long, it would take me an entire book to list them all. Many Americans know in Obama’s final hour in office, he released $221 million of U.S. taxpayer money to the Palestinian Authority. Keep in the mind this money was frozen by Congressional leaders. It was so important to send American taxpayer money to Israel’s enemies, that President Obama made it his last official act in office. But all of that pales in comparison to the Ben Rhodes story. Ben Rhodes is the centerpiece of Obama’s final vicious attack on Israel. Here's the story very few Americans have heard... [more...]

‘If We Don’t Let Muslims Into America, They’ll Kill Us’