by dap | Mar 26, 2025 | Fox News
Last year, for the first time in American history, the northeast surrendered its 250-year title as the financial and industrial capital of the United States. That title now belongs to the Southeast, America’s new economically dominant region, as measured by GDP. That’s in large part due to the
, Texas and North Carolina. (Texas is technically part of the Southeast these days for reasons too complicated to explain here.)
Our new website at Unleash Prosperity, called
chronicles the massive migration over the past 25 years of businesses, people and capital from the high-tax and heavy regulation zones of
and the west coast, to the low-tax and light-regulation regions – the south and more recently to the mountain states like booming Idaho and Utah.
From 2020-23, the southeast gained a net 2.5 million more residents, while the northeast lost in net-migration from other states, almost exclusively people leaving the northeast, California and Illinois.
This declining influence of the blue states is embarrassingly amplified by what is happening in college sports. The South has won 17 of the last 20 national championships with the Southeast Conference gaining most of those titles.
Now look at this year’s “sweet sixteen” in the NCAA basketball tournament. Amazingly, 15 of the 16 teams that have still survived the first two rounds of the tournament’s first weekend of madness are located in states won by Donald J. Trump in November.
The survivors include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Auburn, Brigham Young, Duke, Florida, Houston, Kentucky, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi, Purdue, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Texas Tech. The only outlier was Maryland. Admittedly, Arizona, and Michigan are purple states but all the rest are ruled by Republicans and have a long history of low taxes.
It wasn’t that long ago that the college basketball champion trophy resided in Westwood, California — with John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins stampeding over opponents in the 1960s and early 1970s mostly with home-grown Golden State talent. Then, in the mid-1980s, it was the rugged Big East with schools like Syracuse, Georgetown, St. Johns and Villanova bulldozing through the NCAA tournament with kids from New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. In 1985 for the first and only time ever — three of the Final Four teams were from the same conference: the Big East. Now these teams have sunk into mediocrity.
The
, which won two straight national championships, but even this beast from the East failed to survive the opening weekend of the tournament.
The outlook for a blue state sports comeback anytime soon looks bleak. According to Rivals, a top recruiting database, 28 of this year’s top 40 high school basketball prospects were located in red states, with Florida, Texas, Georgia and
producing the most gifted and talented athletes.
The regional disparity in football high school star recruits is even more pronounced. Amazingly, 75 percent of the Top 40 high school football seniors are from red states.
Not only are blue-state progressive policies chasing out businesses, jobs and capital, but now they are driving away young talent and turning blue-state America into sports wastelands.
by dap | Mar 26, 2025 | Fox News
“Nazis got better treatment under the Alien Enemy Act than has happened here.”
Those somewhat snarky words were spoken Judge Patricia Millett of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals during a contentious hearing on Monday involving the deportation of Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang members from the United States.
Millett, an Obama-appointed judge, appears to have fully embraced a tired tactic of the Left – never miss an opportunity to use the word “Nazi” when discussing Donald Trump. Granted, that may be a cynical interpretation.
Yet, her incendiary rhetoric was not accidental. One wonders whether it was meant to disguise a potential weakness in her reasoning that members of the violent Venezuelan TdA terror group have an absolute right to due process and a hearing in court before being removed.
I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes hyperbole drives home a valid point.
Generally speaking, due process of law entitles people to some kind of hearing before being deprived of “life, liberty, or property.” It is enshrined in the Fifth Amendment to
. Typically, it affixes when individuals are accused of crimes. But it does not imply conventional court proceedings in all cases.
Importantly, deportation is not a criminal prosecution within the meaning of the Bill of Rights. Instead, the authority to deport is drawn from the power of Congress. This is a salient distinction in the case of the TdA terror gangs.
Let’s step back.
In 1798, the Fifth Congress passed a law known as the Alien Enemies Act. It granted to the president sole authority to expedite the removal of enemy aliens from American soil during a declared war or (emphasis added) a “predatory incursion.”
President Trump invoked the Act under the latter provision. Based on compelling evidence gathered by the Departments of Justice and
, violent gang members of a designated terror organization were arrested, detained, and deported.
Even if one were to accept Millett’s argument, the decision of an executive or administrative officer acting at the behest of the president and within the powers expressly conferred by Congress, constitutes an alternative and accepted form of due process (United States v. Ju Toy, 198 U.S. 253). Hence, a standard judicial hearing is not necessarily required.
Presidential use of the Alien Enemies Act is not novel. As I explained in an earlier column, it is well-established, has never been repealed, and has been reviewed by courts numerous times. Four different presidents have invoked it, three of them Democrats in the 20th century.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld President Harry Truman’s use of the Act in the case of Ludecke v. Watkins (33 U.S. 160) in 1948. The high court declared that the deportation of enemy aliens may be ordered summarily by executive action. “The very nature of the President’s power to order the removal of all enemy aliens rejects the notion that courts may pass judgment upon the exercise of his discretion,” said the court.
In other words, Congress deliberately granted the president extraordinary powers that cannot be challenged or nullified by any judge or court. The Supreme Court recognized there was a risk of abuse or error, but Congress knowingly accepted the risk: “Such great powers may be abused, no doubt, but that is a bad reason for having judges supervise their exercise…”
I do not question Judge Millett’s sincerity. She raises a perfectly legitimate point about due process, albeit with provocative language. Given the discourse in court on Monday, I would expect the appellate panel to rule that the right to a court hearing in no way infringes on the president’s unfettered right to invoke the Alien Enemies Act. Both can be true.
The
may be obliged to sort it all out.
What is most troubling about this case are the actions of District Court Judge James Boasberg who initiated the imbroglio when he issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) and demanded that planes carrying TdA terrorists be halted mid-air and returned to the U.S.
The absurdity of that directive is self-evident. No judge has the authority to dictate the direction of travel beyond American airspace. Yet, it has become his irrational obsession as he continues to fixate on departure times and other detailed flight information. He embodies the quintessential qualities of an “activist judge” – bereft of objectivity while enamored of his own imagined power.
Regrettably, the federal bench is over-populated with them.
Many have become witting accessories in the shameful practice of “judge shopping.” Democrats and liberal groups have elevated it into an art form. Whenever Trump does something – anything – they race like a bat out of hell to a favorable venue and preferable judge where the result is preordained against Trump. It’s like rigging the roulette table.
The Trump deportation case is a prime example. The original five plaintiffs were being held in Texas at the very moment their petition for a TRO was filed. Under law, only a federal court in Texas had jurisdiction, not Boasberg in Washington, D.C. The appellate court should toss out the entire case on that basis alone, but I doubt it will.
There is another, equally significant, reason why Boasberg’s TRO is a lawless abuse of power. His directive halting deportations is a “universal injunction.” That is, a nationwide order which extends way beyond his very limited district authority.
The scourge of universal injunctions has reached epidemic levels. It is the latest cudgel by which Trump’s opponents are attempting to bludgeon his agenda. It is another insidious form of “lawfare.” Having failed in their criminal cases to stop him from ascending to the presidency, they now scheme to dragoon his policy initiatives.
It is no coincidence that Trump’s adversaries have obtained more injunctions against him during the first two months of his presidency than his predecessor’s entire four-year term. These unelected activist judges have appointed themselves “super presidents” with the power to countermand the elected president.
Their judicial decisions are not constitutional checks and balances. They are a brazen usurpation of executive authority under the cloak of a black robe. It is a demolition of our cherished separation of powers, and it is spiraling dangerously out of control.
It is high time that Congress, which created our federal courts, intervene to rein in the abuse. It must limit or circumscribe district court jurisdiction and bulldoze the dishonest and unethical practice of “judge shopping.”
Both the House and Senate have separate, but similar, bills designed to do just that. Soon, the lower chamber will hold hearings intended to advance their measure aptly named, “The No Rogue Rulings Act.”
At the same time, it is incumbent on the Supreme Court to move with alacrity to reassert itself. The justices should seize control of the cases where lower court judges have commandeered authority and issued decisions that mangle the law. Those rulings must be repudiated.
A great many Americans support President Trump’s determination to rapidly evict enemy aliens who murder, rape, extort, and commit an endless array of despicable crimes. TdA is the personification of a “predatory incursion.” Citizens are understandably furious that judges like Boasberg care more about the welfare of terrorist criminals than their innocent victims.
The federal judiciary is broken. Doing nothing is not an option, and cosmetic changes will accomplish little. New and muscular rules must be imposed to rectify the chronic abuse by activist judges.
The question is… who will have the fortitude to do it?
by dap | Mar 26, 2025 | Fox News
The devastating
on Feb. 15 that took two lives and caused upwards of $40 million in damage has been an early test of the Trump administration’s disaster response, and despite complaints that Trump is “gutting the government,” so far, it has been a smooth success.
In part, this success is owing to the administration’s laser focus on providing aid, without the moralizing and social justice sentiments that marred recent disaster relief efforts under the watch of Joe Biden.
Last week, Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., and acting administrator of FEMA Cameron Hamilton visited the town of Welch, near the borders with Kentucky and Tennessee, to take in the devastation first-hand, and to show victims there exactly how their federal government is taking action.
“Figuring out the next steps and facilitating federal assistance to get folks back to a better place is what I was sent to Washington to do,” Justice told Fox News Digital. “At the end of the day, getting back to our home states and helping folks deal with real issues impacting them is exactly why we as a party were able to win by such a wide margin.”
And what were some of the forms of this federal assistance that Justice and Hamilton were in Welch, not just touting, but making flood victims aware of? In just over a month, several federal agencies have had a flood of their own, one of aid to the community.
FEMA, among other things, has made assistance for temporary housing available, something the Biden administration often struggled with. The Small Business Administration has declared a disaster in several counties and made loans available. The Department of Housing and Urban Development is making financing for repairs available, and the USDA is providing grocery assistance.
It is a whole-of-government approach that has left many residents grateful, such as local elementary school principal Sarah Diaz, who appreciated Justice’s visit to her school.
“It’s awesome to see how much he supports our families with all this tremendous loss that we’ve gone through and that we’re bouncing back and filled with resilience,” Diaz, who told WVVA News. “We’re excited.”
The kids, it seems, were most excited to see the senator’s famous pooch, Babydog, who is his constant and stalwart sidekick.
We all know that absence of evidence is not the same as evidence of absence, but six weeks into this disaster we are not seeing the kind of anger and frustration we saw in the wake of last fall’s North Carolina and Florida floods.
This time around, there were no federal officials telling responders to
, there were no photo ops offering a few hundred dollars as if it was like winning the Publishers Clearinghouse sweepstakes.
The real story here is that there is no story. Everything is working as it should be, which is something we were not accustomed to under Joe Biden.
It does and should make us wonder if FEMA, and who knows what other agencies, have been focused on their core missions or, rather, in pursuing utopian fantasies of equity and intersectionality.
After all, if FEMA was spending time and energy warning about imaginary violent Trump supporters then their eyes were not fully on the actual mission at hand.
The administration’s response to the flooding in West Virginia is evidence that the government can trim needless fat from programs and not only maintain strong levels of service, but improve upon them. This, of course, won’t stop Democrats from saying the sky is falling.
As Justice put it, “Watching Democrats run around the country with their hair on fire, defending damn-near fraudulent levels of wasteful expenditures, and calling President Trump every derogatory political term possible is a completely delusional hill to die on and quite frankly a waste of time. People across the country voted against this and the people of West Virginia overwhelmingly voted against this.”
For decades now, when Democrats are in charge of the Defense Department, or the FBI, or FEMA, we have heard agency leaders say again and again, “our first priority is diversity, or inclusion, or social justice,” but that idea is plainly absurd.
The first priority of defense is winning conflicts, not diversity, the first priority of law enforcement is fighting crime, not equity, and the first priority of disaster relief is to help people, not to scapegoat Trump voters as violent.
If the situation on the ground in West Virginia today is any indication of how the Trump administration will handle disasters going forward then the country is in good hands.
After four years under Biden’s feckless and incompetent regime, this new approach is very welcome news.
by dap | Mar 26, 2025 | Fox News
The United Nations “Human Rights” Council is attempting an end-run around
.
An incendiary draft resolution, set for a vote next week, promises to criminalize Israeli and American military actions and their commanders in chief. If adopted, the Council plans to launch prosecutions targeting Israelis and Americans in national and international courts.
Leading the charge is a group of Islamic states — the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) — led by Pakistan, and countries that count on American largess, like Jordan and Kuwait. Also pushing the anti-American outcome – while play-acting as an American peace-partner – is Council member Qatar.
For decades, U.S. administrations have failed to ensure serious consequences for America and Israel-bashing votes at the U.N. This pattern needs to stop.
The “Human Rights” Council resulted from a U.N. “reform” sham in 2006, when a “Council” replaced a “Commission.” The cure was worse than the disease. The Council’s members currently include such paragons of virtue as Algeria, China, Cuba and Sudan. The majority are not full democracies, and Islamic states routinely hold the balance of power through regional voting blocs. Israel is the perennial whipping boy – more resolutions, reports, special sessions and agenda time than any other country – while the worst human rights violators protect each other.
Antisemitism is the lingua franca. What passes for diplomatic niceties are wild blood libels, comparing Jews to Nazis, and continual attacks on the Jewish state’s creation.
In this context, the Islamic states propose to create a never-ending “mechanism” “to assist in the investigation and prosecution of persons responsible for the most serious crimes under international law committed by all parties in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
.” The mechanism is “to prepare case files in order to facilitate …criminal proceedings,” “in national, regional and international courts or tribunals.” In short,
sets up a global pogrom.
The sop to crimes by “all parties” is a bad joke, since “Hamas” never appears, and the only party said to engage in terrorism are Israelis.
The resolution deliberately ensnares Americans because the “crimes” include several aspects of the Israeli-American relationship. For instance, the resolution demands an arms embargo, to prevent Israelis from defending themselves against genocidal enemies.
The resolution targets “the direct and indirect transfer or sale” of “dual-use items to Israel,” including everything but the kitchen sink, like “goods” and “technologies.”
Before the called-for “investigations,” the resolution identifies alleged Israeli crimes already committed. Kangaroo courts are to be created to terminate Jewish racism and “apartheid.” No matter that Arabs are 20% of the Jewish state, with more democratic rights than in any Arab state, while the Palestinian Authority and Hamas have made clear a “State of Palestine” would manifest true apartheid by prohibiting Jews.
To top it off, Islamic states have decided for Jews what counts as antisemitism. Their resolution says, “criticism of violations of international law by Israel should not be conflated with antisemitism.” The OIC’s “legal” criticism of the Council in the recent past,
, has sounded like this: “the occupation forces encircle Rafah like vultures.”
“We condemn the occupying power’s brutal atrocities…spanning more than seven decades in ongoing barbaric aggression.” Libya: “The Israeli project aims at a final solution.” Qatar: Israel was conducting a “war of annihilation perpetrated for 75 years in Palestine.”
The U.S. is not a helpless bystander here. Any state refusing to vote against this resolution should know that the move will not be cost-free. The U.S. should withhold all funds from the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, which will staff and manage the “mechanism.” Any state or company that cooperates with discriminatory antisemitic boycotts and embargoes should not be doing business, directly or indirectly, with the government of the United States. It is high time to confront and terminate the U.N. bullies’ reign of terror.
