CANCEL BIDEN's ADDRESS

 

[Published on Newsmax 

SOTU Would Only Let Biden Trumpet His Hollow 'Accomplishments' | Newsmax.com]

Republicans should uninvite President Biden giving his State of the Union Address in the House Chamber.

Republicans can use this historic opportunity to draw attention to everything President Biden is doing to America. They know they will not convict Biden, or any of his Cabinet, using Impeachment.

Instead, Republicans can, in one master stroke, sanction Biden and realign the balance between the Legislative and Executive Branches.

There is no official reason for the speech.

There is not a requirement for it to be annual.

Article II, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution only requires the President to “from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union”.

There is no requirement for Congress granting the President the use of their Chamber for this ritualized taxpayer-funded infomercial.

Republicans would prove that the Congress is a co-equal branch, not subservient to the President. They would not be seen as a pack of trained seals clapping at dozens of cheap applause lines. They would not be the stage for ritualizing Biden's trumpeting hollow accomplishments and demonizing Republican opposition.

They would also avoid being put in awkward political binds as the President introduces controversial people seated next to the First lady, daring the Republicans not to applaud. Speaker Johnson would not have to maintain his dignity as Biden promotes the destruction of everything he holds dear.

Not inviting the President also brings the State of the Union back to its traditional position in American government.

President George Washington delivered the first State of the Union speech in person before a Joint Session of Congress on January 8, 1790. Since then, there have been 232 opportunities for Presidents to deliver their report before Congress. Presidents have delivered their report as a speech before a Joint Session of Congress only 108 times (46%).

The other 125 times were through written communication.

George Washington and John Adams delivered their State of the Union reports as speeches, but Thomas Jefferson was more comfortable with the written word. For 113 years, no other President delivered a State of the Union speech before Congress until Democrat Woodrow Wilson on December 2, 1913. This was part of Wilson’s elevating himself to new regal heights.

President Warren Harding continued this new practice. President Calvin Coolidge delivered his first and only State of the Union address on December 6, 1923, then went silent.

For ten years, Congress did not have to arrange a Joint Session for the State of the Union Address. Then Democrat Franklin Roosevelt asked for the forum in 1934. In 1946, President Harry Truman opted out of a formal speech because, during the previous nine months, he had spoken to five Joint Sessions of Congress relating to the end of World War II. In 1956, President Eisenhower opted out of the speech because he was still recovering from his September 24,1955 heart attack.

No one really missed the Presidential vanity hour. Twenty-six Presidents, including two of America’s greatest Presidential orators, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, choose not to speak to the Congress. Congress still operated. Legislative business proceeded. America survived.

Presidents issue a detailed Budget Message a few weeks after the State of the Union Report. This is a more tangible and actionable communication of the Administration’s priorities. Far more budget initiatives become reality than the dozens of empty promises made during a typical State of the Union address.

Americans have grown tired of this annual narcissistic charade.  President Bill Clinton’s first State of the Union Speech (SOTUS) was watched by a record 70 million.  The television audience for Biden’s 2023 SOTUS was only 27.3 million.

Congressional Republicans can reprimand Biden while reinventing government in the 21st Century. 

Let the President speak from the Oval Office and send a written version to Congress - that would more than meet the Constitutional requirement.

EVICT THE UNITED NATIONS

 

[Published in Newsmax Show UN the Door | Newsmax.com]

It's time for the United Nations (UN) to leave America.

The UN has definitely overstayed its welcome.  Recent remarks by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and the overwhelming adoption of a Hamas inspired resolution by the General Assembly, crossed the line of decency.

These actions should be the last of many straws that the UN has heaped on American soil.

The UN’s being on the wrong side of issues is terrible by any measure.  It turned a blind eye to the tens of millions killed by Communism.  The UN continues to ignore the lives destroyed by slavery and tribal wars.  The UN ignores those suffering under tyrants who lead many of their member nations. The UN ignores how corruption and waste infests every aspect of its operations.

On December 10, 1945, the U.S. Congress formally invited the United Nations to have its headquarters in America.  Congress can formally uninvite the UN.

The New York City School System spends $80 million a year for educating the children of UN Diplomats. It spends $8 million a year on protecting UN Diplomats and handling the traffic snarls during the annual opening of the General Assembly.  The U.S. State Department spends $31 million a year on protecting UN Diplomats.

NYC annually loses $72 million in property tax revenue as the UN Headquarters sits on tax exempt land. UN employees are tax exempt from federal and state income taxes.  Annually, this revenue loss is approximately $400 million in federal and state taxes and $26 million for NYC.

The NYC government will not miss $16 million in unpaid parking tickets from UN Diplomats.

The U.S. will not miss it.  Intelligence agencies consistently describe the United Nations as a “spy nest”.  On February 28, 2022, the Biden Administration exposed and expelled 12 spies within Russia’s UN delegation.  How many spies are operating under diplomatic cover among the 193 member delegations?

So where should the United Nations go?  Johannesburg, South Africa.

The current political environment of South Africa is a United Nations creation.  Starting on November 6, 1962, South Africa’s government was singled-out for extinction.  Over the years, harsher measures were implemented to pressure South African leaders to share power with their native population.  This included suspending South Africa’s UN Membership on November 14, 1974.  In 1994, the UN welcomed South Africa back into the fold after democratic reforms were implemented.

Moving the UN to Johannesburg would bring its policies “home to roost”.

Johannesburg has the third highest crime rate in Africa.  While it is cheaper to live there than NYC, it has terrible public transportation, high air pollution, and prone to power outages.

Third world dictators may have difficulty enticing their delegations to work in Johannesburg once the swanky apartments and lavish NYC expense account restaurants are a thing of the past.

The most compelling reason for the United Nations to move to Johannesburg is the BRICS.

Formed in 2010, the BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa have established an alternative global reality to the G7 and G20 nations.  The BRICS nations hope to overtake the western-oriented groups of nations as the focus of 21^st Century economic and political vitality.

Moving the UN to Johannesburg places it at the center of BRICS’ geopolitics. That is a plus for them. 

The $2 billion in local job creation would be the West’s final gift to South Africa’s economy.

It is also a plus for the G7/G20 (all BRICS countries are members of the G20).  Having the UN “out of sight, out of mind” places it where it should be - on the other side of the planet wallowing in its anti-West, anti-freedom, anti-capitalist agenda.  The rants of its leaders and its resolutions will not have the same “gravitas” deprived of its “New York City, USA” imprimatur.  UN diplomats will not have easy access to the U.S. media being 7,900 miles away.

Having the United Nations out of the United States would be a giant step forward in clearing the West’s political landscape. 

Congress can go on the record now for sending the UN packing. It will take a Republican President to make it a reality.

GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE

 

[U.S. House Chamber 1820]

[Published as part of Constituting America's Ninety Day Study on America's Founding Principles: Principle of a Legislative Branch Within a System of Government Closest to the People – Constituting America]

In advocating for establishing the Legislative Branch in the U.S. Constitution, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, writing under “PUBLIUS”, stated in Federalist No. 52:

“First. As it is essential to liberty that the government in general should have a common interest with the people, so it is particularly essential that the branch of it under consideration should have an immediate dependence on, and an intimate sympathy with, the people. Frequent elections are unquestionably the only policy by which this dependence and sympathy can be effectually secured…. It is a received and well-founded maxim, that where no other circumstances affect the case, the greater the power is, the shorter ought to be its duration.”

Madison and Hamilton explained how the Legislative Branch was fundamental to Americans remaining in control of their own government in FEDERALIST No. 57:

“The House of Representatives is so constituted as to support in the members an habitual recollection of their dependence on the people. Before the sentiments impressed on their minds by the mode of their elevation can be effaced by the exercise of power, they will be compelled to anticipate the moment when their power is to cease, when their exercise of it is to be reviewed, and when they must descend to the level from which they were raised; there forever to remain unless a faithful discharge of their trust shall have established their title to a renewal of it.”

Binding the Legislative Branch to the people built upon the precedents from America’s colonial period.

The Royal Charter that established Jamestown in Virginia evolved from governance by the Charter holders into governance by the King’s Representative (Royal Governor) and his Advisory Council. When the settlers demanded their own voice, the Virginia House of Burgesses, in 1619, became the first democratically elected legislative body in America. 

The House of Burgesses became a proving ground for what would become the U.S. House of Representatives. Drawing upon British tradition, revenue and spending bills originated in the House instead of the “upper chamber”. Drawing from British tradition, the members of the House held their positions for short periods of time, the better to be held closely accountable by those they represented.

Tying government closely to the people is foundational to America.  The reason America is a “federal” system, and not a “national system”, is to preserve state and local government.  This assures most public policy and public activity is closest to the people it serves and reflects their diversity.  Serving an urban New York City neighborhood is very different from serving a rural community in Montana.

America’s diversity is embodied in our nation’s motto: “E Pluribus Unum” – out of many, one.

Governing a diverse America is institutionalized in the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Today, America is governed by 87,576 local units.  This includes 3,034 counties, 19,429 municipalities (cities, towns, villages), 16,504 townships, 13,506 school districts, and 35,052 special districts (such as water & sewer, fire, and conservation).

Except for Switzerland and Germany, European governments are national. Their policy and programs are based on “one size fits all”. National governments ultimately amplify regional and ethnic tensions.  England’s Acts of Union with Scotland (1707) and Ireland (1801) spawned countless conflicts.  Today, Scotland and Wales have separate Parliaments.  Ireland divided itself into a Free State and Northern Ireland in the wake of years of violence (1921).  England leaving the European Union in January 2020 reflected what happens when a weak parliament, which could have embraced diversity, was dominated by a powerful and unaccountable bureaucracy.

America’s federal structure, emphasizing government closest to the people, was chronicled by the Frenchman, Alexis Clerel, the Vicount de Tocqueville.

“Democracy in America” was published in two volumes (1835 and 1840).  It remains a foundational document describing how Americans benefit from local government.

“The village or township is the only association which is so perfectly natural that wherever a number of men are collected it seems to constitute itself. The town, or tithing, as the smallest division of a community, must necessarily exist in all nations….”

“….local assemblies of citizens constitute the strength of free nations. Town-meetings are to liberty what primary schools are to science; they bring it within the people’s reach, they teach men how to use and how to enjoy it. A nation may establish a system of free government, but without the spirit of municipal institutions it cannot have the spirit of liberty. 

de Tocqueville recognized how Americans preserving local governance serves as a model for a better world:

"I believe that provincial [local] institutions are useful to all nations, but nowhere do they appear to me to be more indispensable than amongst a democratic people.

The only nations which deny the utility of provincial [local] liberties are those which have fewest of them; in other words, those who are unacquainted with the institution are the only persons who pass a censure upon it.”

Thanks to the strength of local government, America remains an inspiration for all those who seek free and open societies. 

 

PBM's REGULATORY LABYRINTH

 

LEADING IN THE NEW CONGRESS

 

[Published on Newmax]

The Republican Congress has a small window of opportunity to redefine the political landscape.

Will Republicans repeat history or make history?

Remember 2011?  Republicans won an historic number of seats in 2010 only to become disappointingly ineffective.  A thundering herd of elephants birthed mice.

Republicans will need to overcome several challenges. 

First, most media will declare the “end of days” and breathlessly report the coming “Republican apocalypse” in detail.  They will demonize every incoming Republican with cherry-picked “facts” and an endless array of fiction. 

Second, Republicans will not be unified.  They rarely are.  Conservatives should remember that just because Members of Congress are “R”s they are not necessarily “ours”.  There are moderate and liberal Republicans, along with swamp dwellers, timid souls, and special interest conflicted.

Republicans, even with a slim majority, can make a difference if they achieve four major goals: Expose; End; Equip; Endure.

EXPOSE

Congress has a fundamental duty to conduct oversight and hold those in power accountable. 

This begins with Congress itself.  Republican leaders must immediately demand that January 6, 2021, videos from all 1,800 Capitol Hill cameras are preserved.  Any cameras “not working on that day”, and “lost" or “damaged” videos, must be fully explained and documented.

On January 6, 2023, Congress embraces transparency by releasing all January 6 videos from all cameras unedited or redacted.  Let Americans see for themselves what happened.

To follow-up, Congress then identifies law enforcement shown on Capitol security and news videos helping protesters by unlocking and opening doors, removing security barriers, waving them to the Capitol, or standing-by passively.  Each law enforcement officer should be individually brought behind closed doors and asked, under oath, “who told you to do that?” 

Those who “were following orders’ will be asked, “whose orders?”  Their superiors are brought forward and asked the same questions.  Congressional Q&A continues until top law enforcement officials either assert they initiated rules of engagement themselves or identify orders from specifically named elected officials.  These communications would then be released to the public.

There are countless Biden abominations that deserve investigation.  Republicans must heed the lessons from their ineffectual pursuit of Obama scandals.  Subpoenas will be ignored, documents will be withheld, slow walked, or become “missing”, witnesses will refuse to testify, lie, or obfuscate.

The gold standard remains the 1973 Watergate Committee.  They began with the lowest level people and worked their way up to the top.  Questions were asked and Members waited for answers instead of launching into finger waving monologues.  Public hearings are theatrical events. Republicans need to manage the plot, characters, and answers beforehand and build a narrative.  The truth is out there but is nearly impossible to uncover in a timely enough manner to matter.

Nonpartisan oversight should also occur, using hundreds of reports published by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the 72 Department and Agency Inspectors General.  Americans need to repeatedly hear about the mindboggling expanse of waste, fraud, and abuse that is endemic in the Federal Government.  This validates the next Republican President’s reform agenda.

END

Republicans will end new Biden initiatives and reduce his ability for mischief. They can defund programs, positions, and people.  They can turn campaign promises into reality by introducing legislation addressing voter priorities.

Justification through hearings and legislation will reveal and debunk the underlying dogma that is driving the Biden agendas for climate change and wokism.  Deindustrializing America is foundational to Biden’s assault on energy independence.  Showcasing silenced experts on these matters is vital.

Biden will veto everything Republicans do, and they will not have the votes to override. Republicans can counter by thinking well ahead of these predictable moves. Biden vetoes will become opportunities to contrast Republican voter-endorsed solutions with how Biden’s policies destroy America. This builds the case for change in 2024.

EQUIP

Republicans used the last two years of President Jimmy Carter to pave the way for the Reagan Revolution.  The next two years can equip the next Republican President with ideas and actions that will define the political landscape for 2024 and beyond. Through hearings, legislation, and floor speeches, they can build a mandate for the next Republican President to “hit the ground running”.   This change agenda will generate Leftist attacks, providing insights for Republican counter measures when they are reintroduced in 2025. 

ENDURE

The Washington, DC swamp is far deeper and extensive than anyone ever realized.  Republicans who cannot be bought-off or scared-off will be relentlessly savaged.  Democrats are known for locking arms and never breaking ranks.  Republicans shoot their wounded, even ones with minor injuries.  Time to think strategically and prepare for future battles 

To save America we must think past one election, one hearing, or one piece of legislation. 

It took years for the Left to gain the upper hand.  

It will take years to end their reign.

Scot Faulkner served as Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives and helped lead Speaker Newt Gingrich's Congressional Transition in 1994. He was Director of Personnel for the 1980 Reagan Campaign and served on the Presidential Transition team.  He currently advises corporations on implementing strategic change.

LIGHT THERAPY SHINES THROUGH

 

[Left to Right: Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV); Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R-MN), 

Dr. Tara Schwetz (White House)]

[Published in Newsmax]

Light Therapy Shines Through | Newsmax.com

Rapidly mainstreaming breakthrough medical research, sometimes called "bench to bedside," has become a bipartisan priority. The rapid development and dissemination of COVID-19 vaccines established a new focus on how lives can be saved and improved if regulatory pathways, research resources, and the medical professional acceptance were better aligned.

Dr. Tara Schwetz, a senior member of the President's Office of Science and Technology, is driving the establishment of the new Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). Legislation to establish and fund ARPA-H is now moving through Congress.

This new agency is patterned after the Defense Department's DARPA, the "gold standard" for creative, paradigm-busting research and application.

One of the premiere examples of a paradigm-busting breakthrough medical technology is Photobiomodulation (PBM), also known as red light therapy.

PBM's effectiveness and future were recently showcased when scientists and practitioners presented their latest research to leaders from research institutions, research hospitals, cancer clinics, and medical schools at PBM2021.

Dr. Schwetz joined members of Congress as a keynote speaker to address scientists and medical professionals from 20 countries at the PBM2021 Global Conference on the importance of innovative medical technology.

PBM is a noninvasive, FDA cleared, medical technology that directs red and near-infrared light into mitochondria to restore normal cell function and reduce inflammation. It is a natural process aiding a natural process.

PBM has been used in over 100 million patient treatments without any documented side effects. PBM's role in speeding recovery and reducing side-effects from cancer treatments is documented as reducing the cost of care by up to 73%.

PBM therapy is successfully helping veterans with managing pain, treating neurological conditions, and speeding wound healing throughout the Veterans Integrated Services Networks (VISNs), including the Martinsburg VA Medical Center, the VA Boston Healthcare System, the Salt Lake City VAMC, and the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago.

PBM prevents the painful side effects of cancer chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) recommends PBM as the standard of care for preventing oral mucositis. PBM is now preventing cancer therapy side effects at leading cancer centers, including St. Jude's Children Research Hospital, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard

PBM therapy's efficacy is supported by over 800 randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and 8,000 research studies, many published in leading scientific journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and The Lancet.

There are currently over 190 active PBM clinical trials. Awareness of, and support for, PBM therapy is expanding thanks to formal presentations to policy leaders on its benefits for pain management, wound healing, and preventing cancer therapy side effects.

These presentations ranged from congressional briefings to testimony before the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), federal Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force, the Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) Board of Scientific Counselors, and the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Photobiomodulation's "light revolution" hopes to follow in the path blazed by other important medical technology that went from exotic to commonplace. MRIs and sonograms are just two breakthrough technologies that overcame initial resistance to become integral to maintaining our health.

LESSONS NOT LEARNED

 

[Also published on Newsmax]

Trump’s supporters are stirring.  They are aghast at the Biden era, feeling it is based on years of lies, conspiracies, and “fake news”.

Trump’s detractors continue to stir.  They hope relentless investigations will lead to Trump in handcuffs and ultimately in jail. 

Both sides want “payback”.  The anti-Trumps want finality and an object lesson, that assures no outsider ever again gets close to draining the Swamp.  The pro-Trumpsters want to retake the Legislative Branch in 2022 and the Executive Branch in 2024. 

Trump’s “populist revolution” will only succeed if he and his supporters learn lessons from the last four years.

“Republicans hold office.  Democrats hold power.” mused Mark Steyn on a recent Fox News show.

Trump and his supporters must understand this in all its manifestations, should they ever hope to achieve their vision.

Trump failed at the very basic level of wielding power.  He ignored the maxims: “People equal policy” and “Personnel is policy”.  Adhering to these maxims allowed the Reagan revolution to eradicate the Soviet Union and its empire, while shifting America’s political center of gravity for the first time since 1932.  Adhering to these maxims allowed the Gingrich revolution to reinvent Congressional operations for the first time since 1789, while re-establishing a competitive Legislative Branch for the first time since 1932.

Reagan’s and Gingrich’s revolutions made removing their opponents their first order of business.

All Carter appointees were removed within the first weeks of Reagan taking office.  Their badges were confiscated, and their security clearances revoked.  A team went door-to-door throughout the White House and Executive Office buildings assuring every Carter person, every pro-Carter careerist, every pro-Carter detailee, and every pro-Carter contractor were marched out the door.  Careerists were reassigned, contracts were cancelled.  

At the same time teams of Reaganites took complete control of core operations within every department and agency: the Executive Secretariats and the offices of Legal Counsel, Personnel, Finance, and Procurement.  Legions of Reagan appointees instantaneously overwhelmed the Executive Branch, methodically reviewing every recent and pending action, ending and reversing those not in full accord with the Reagan agenda. This included personnel actions, training, contracts, grants, legal actions, regulations, publications, meetings, and anything else of substance.

In some agencies, such as the General Services Administration (GSA) the center of government corruption under Carter, every employee was assessed and a new agency culture, complete with new position descriptions, hiring & promotion criteria, administrative processes, and accountability systems were put in place.  Pro-Reagan whistle blowers, investigative media, and congressional oversight professionals identified those careerists who were trustworthy to build viable cores of competent loyalists deep in every nook and cranny of the Executive Branch. 

The Gingrich Revolution began the same way.  Within an hour of becoming Speaker, every top administrator and administrative assistant was fired and walked out the door. Their files were seized, their security clearances revoked.  New House rules and reform legislation eradicated forty years of “kleptocracy” that robbed public funds and furnishings from the Capitol.  A new management team completely reinvented Congressional operations propelling the 18^th century work culture and processes into the 21^st.

In both cases, Reagan, Gingrich, and their operational teams, had a “sense of urgency” that drove them to clear the landscape of the old guard and ways.  They had a clear vision and detailed plans. They never blinked.  They never stood still.  They never leaked.  They never tolerated disloyalty.

Unfortunately, Trump and his team did the opposite.  They were told, in detail, by Reagan and Gingrich alums, what needed to be done.  They heard but never listened or learned.

The result was Trump never having control over his Administration.  Obama holdovers ran the White House correspondence unit for the first two years.  Obama, Clinton, and Deep State operatives remained in control of everything.  Those who were terminated never had their ID badges or security clearances removed.

Trump was too trusting of Swamp dwellers.  His Transition was run by Bush and Romney operatives.  His White House was filled with RINOs.  Confidential information, even from small meetings, was leaked to the media within minutes.

 Trump’s holding back on making appointments was “penny wise but pound foolish”.  He never had overwhelming forces in any department or agency.  He never had control of core operations.  That is why his initiatives withered after he signed Executive Orders.  There was no one there to implement them. On the other hand, political holdovers and anti-Trump bureaucrats ran rampant.  They derailed pro-Trump efforts while allowing ongoing Obama/Clinton policies, personnel actions, training, contracts, grants, legal actions, regulations, publications, and meetings to continue unabated.  

Despite this, Trump hobbled regulations, made foreign policy strides, and had legislative victories. Unfortunately, they are all being reversed in the Biden era.

Imagine what Trump could have done had he learned the lessons of Reagan and Gingrich?

 

 

WHY 2020 IS SO IMPORTANT

 

[Published on Newsmax]

Anyone still doubting what will happen if the Democrats take the White House and the Senate this November need to look at what just happened in Virginia.

In November 2019, Democrats won the governorship and control of both houses of the state legislature for the first time since 1993. While they had a 10-seat majority in the House of Delegates, their margin in the State Senate was a razor thin two seats.

As 2020 dawned, the newly sworn-in Democrats moved with lightning speed on a broad legislative front. It was a relentless Leftist Juggernaut.

During the 60-day legislative session, Democrats passed 1,900 bills. The governor signed every one of them into law.

Every Leftist dream came true.

First came eviscerating gun rights. The gun control bills were so groundbreaking, Gov. Ralph Northam held a special signing ceremony. The bills expanded background checks to include private sales, created severe penalties for leaving firearms near children, including inside a private home, limited handgun sales to one a month, and created red flag laws.

More importantly, new laws empowered local governments, as Virginia is a "commonwealth," to regulate the possession, carrying, storage or transport of firearms, ammunition, components or any combination of those things, and to ban guns in public spaces, including public buildings, parks, recreation centers and during permitted events.

This included authorizing local governments to establish stricter gun laws than exist at the federal and state level.

A second wave assailed Virginia history and culture. Lee-Jackson Day was eliminated as a state holiday. All protections for Confederate monuments ended.

Then came social legislation. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), long past its ratification deadline, was ratified anyway, providing the 38th state needed for final adoption. A hoped-for court challenge will try to overturn precedent and force the ERA into the Constitution.

The "Virginia Values Act" added sexual orientation and gender identity to all Virginia anti-discrimination laws. It granted the attorney general the power to take action against anyone "engaged in a pattern or practice of resistance" to the rights guaranteed by the new laws.

Abortion rights were dramatically expanded, rolling back existing provisions including a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion, ending a requirement that women seeking an abortion to undergo an ultrasound and counseling, eliminating the requirement that abortions be provided by a physician, allowing nurse practitioners to perform them and ending building code requirements on facilities where abortions are performed.

Virginia's felony larceny threshold was raised from $500 to $1,000. Sponsors stated this will lead to fewer Virginians with felony convictions on their records.

Possession of marijuana was decriminalized and replaced with a $25 civil penalty.

The minimum wage went to $9.50 per hour. This will increase to $11 in 2022, $12 in 2023 and by another $1.50 in 2025 and 2026.

Virginia increased its gas tax 5 cents a year for two consecutive years.

A new tax on plastic bags was established.

Finally, they changed the rules for voting. Virginians no longer need to show a photo ID in order to vote, and they no longer need to provide an excuse to cast an absentee ballot.

Virginia became part of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, awarding the state's electoral votes to the national winner of the presidential popular vote, instead of the state's own popular vote.

Democrats have an even longer wish list at the national level, including the "Green New Deal," raising taxes and the minimum wage, and national gun control measures.

They are invoking racism and atoning for the 1619-based "America is a slave nation," to promote reparations and other laws that will eliminate America as we know it. The Left wants to erase freedom of speech in favor of "woke" sensibilities and political correctness and, of course, erase the right to bear arms.

The biggest national movement is to end "institutional racism" and "white privilege" by eliminating the Electoral College, make U.S. Senate seats based on population, granting statehood to the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and packing the Supreme Court. 

Every one of these "reforms" is designed to solidify the Left's power forever.

The only thing standing in the way of Democrats recreating the Virginia Juggernaut at the national level is the U.S. Senate's filibuster.

The crusade for ending the filibuster is already underway. Even though it has been integral to the Senate since its founding, it is being portrayed as a recent racist manifestation.

The filibuster is the only protection for minority rights in Congress. Both parties embrace it as they know one day they may be out of power and need it.

The Left is banking on the November election giving them eternal power.

HAMILTON - AMERICA's FIRST CAPITALIST

[Part of Constituting America’s 90 Day Study - Days that Shaped America]

Alexander Hamilton was America’s first Chief Operations Officer (COO).

Along with James Madison, Hamilton crafted the best operating system ever devised in human history.  The U.S. Constitution provided a framework for sharing power and resolving differences.  Madison and Hamilton provided details for operationalizing the Constitution with their Federal Papers essays.  These Papers remain integral to interpreting the original intent for court cases to this day.

America was blessed with George Washington, the most indispensable person in our nation’s history. However, Washington needed to augment his phenomenal leadership skills with Hamilton’s management acumen.  During the American Revolution, Hamilton translated Washington’s military strategy into clear and concise orders to his commanders.  Now as President, Washington needed Hamilton to translate the Founders’ vision, and his policies, into reality.

With Jefferson still conducting diplomacy in Europe, Hamilton became not just the first Treasury Secretary, but effectively functioned as Washington’s “prime minister”.  Decisions and documents, down to minute detail, flowed from Hamilton’s pen, creating the Executive Branch. 

Hamilton’s love of administrative detail was matched by his devotion to commerce.

He was the only “modern man” among the Founders.  Hamilton grew-up outside the American colonies and had a full appreciation of how nations interacted.  As an accounting clerk for various trading companies in the West Indies, Hamilton developed a deep understanding for the inner workings of international trade and finance.  His was America’s first “capitalist”.  The systems and institutions he put in place laid the foundation for America becoming the greatest economic power in the world.

Hamilton greatest achievement was managing the onerous debts arising from the Revolutionary War.  Each state incurred debt as their individual state militias needed to be paid for back wages.  Both national and state level soldiers were paid in bonds or “IOUs”.  After the war many cash-strapped soldiers sold these bonds/“IOUs” to speculators for a fraction of their worth.  Countless suppliers of their armed forces sued for nonpayment.  The paper currency issued during the war was “not worth a Continental” and legions of war veterans, farmers, merchants, and craftsman (like blacksmiths, barrel makers, and carpenters) demanded payment, declaring Continental script were “IOUs”.

The total debt was $79 million: $54 million owed by the national government and $25 million owed by the states.  Hamilton saw repayment of this debt as a strategic and moral imperative: “States, like individuals, who observe their engagements are respected and trusted, while the reverse is the fate of those who pursue an opposite conduct.”

Without a debt repayment strategy, the IOUs and lawsuits would continue to cripple America’s economy with unbridled speculation and uncertainty. Trust in the Federal government’s ability to meet its obligations had to be restored.  Something had to be done.  Hamilton declared, “In nothing are appearances of greater moment than in whatever regards credit.”

Repayment of debts would allow America to enter into international agreements and borrow funds for investing in business ventures and stimulate economic growth.  Hamilton observed that the American economy was stagnating from a limited money supply, deflation of land values, and no liquid capital. He also was concerned that if America was seen as financially broke and politically fragmented, foreign governments may lure individual states with separate debt financing arrangements. 

The solution was to consolidate all public debt and set aside some of the steady federal revenue to service interest and payoff the principal.  These were revolutionary and futuristic concepts in 1790.

It was his conviction that, “an assumption of the debts of particular states by the union and a like provision for them as for those of the union will be a measure of sound policy and substantial justice.”

Hamilton determined that consolidating all the Revolutionary War debt would accomplish several things.  [1] It would bring order from chaos with one large debt instead of thousands of smaller ones.  [2] It would simplify the management and repayment of the debt. [3] It would establish loyalty among the creditors and bond/IOU holders who would promote the stability and success of the federal government to assure their claims were paid. 

Another aspect of Hamilton’s solution was that the U.S. Constitution gave the federal government the exclusive right to collect import duties.  The Federal Government assuming state debt would prevent states from trying to return to the Article of Confederation when states levied duties on interstate commerce.  Hamilton wanted to unify America and forge a national economy.

The critical element in assuming all debt was to have a unified America attract foreign investment through issuing federal government bonds.  Such bonded debt would create investment partners who would forge trade relationships that allowed the U.S. Government to raise the necessary revenue to meet its debt obligations.  Hamilton sought to create a web of economic loyalties and relationships that bound everyone to supporting everyone’s economic wellbeing.  In doing so, Hamilton would establish America as a major player in the modern international financial system.

Hamilton’s vision and how to implement it, was at the core of his fifty-one-page “Report on Public Credit” to the Congress.  It was his hope that Congress would pass the necessary legislation to authorize implementation of this integrated plan.  Any editions or subtractions would ruin his delicate balance between the various economic interests.  Hamilton worried, “Credit is the entire thing. Every part of it has the nicest sympathy with every other part.  Wound one limb and the whole tree shrinks and decays.”

Many in Congress rejected the plan as confusing and overly complex.  Some saw it as too much like the way England financed its wars.  Other declared it a bailout for speculators.  Even Madison refuted it.  As the assumption plan related to spending, its first test was in the House of Representatives.

The House debate was a sensation.  Packed galleries watched Madison rail against the plan as a “betrayal of the American Revolution”.  Hamilton, a member of the Executive Branch, mustered his votes behind the scenes. On April 12, 1790, the House defeated the debt assumption plan: 29 ayes to 31 nays.

The death of debt assumption found resurrection in the future location of the nation’s capital.  Hamilton and northerners wanted the capital to remain in New York or return to Philadelphia.  Southerners wanted in in the South and located outside an existing urban area.  Jefferson saw this as a struggle between his vision of an agrarian nation versus the grime of industry.  Madison and Henry Lee had purchased land along the Potomac River in the hopes that Jefferson would prevail.

All sides wanted a final decision on the future of the Nation’s Capital, and symbolically the character of the nation.  To break the stalemate, the key players, Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison, and several others gathered for dinner on June 20, 1790, at Jefferson’s townhouse in New York City. 

After much food, libations, and discussion a deal was struck.  The Nation’s Capital would be along the banks of the Potomac between Georgetown in Maryland and Alexandria in Virginia.  In exchange for Hamilton convincing northerners to support this location, Jefferson and Madison would support passage of Hamilton’s Debt Assumption plan.

On July 10, 1790 the House passed the Residence Act moving the temporary Capital back to Philadelphia and designating a ten-square mile area along the Potomac as the permanent Capital.  The House then passed the Assumption bill on July 26.  The Senate approved the plan on August 4, 1790.

Senator Daniel Webster placed Hamilton’s achievement into historical perspective. 

“The fabled birth of Minerva from the brain of Jove was hardly more sudden or perfect than the financial system of the United States as it burst forth from the conception of Alexander Hamilton.”

ENDING OPIOIDS BY PHOTOBIOMODULATION

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR – James D. Carroll

Congressional Briefing on Ending Opioid Use by

treating pain using Photobiomodulation

Rayburn House Office Building

October 11, 2018

Mr. Chairman, members of Congress ladies and gentlemen. I am James Carroll, CEO and founder of THOR Photomedicine.

I am sure are all too aware there is an opioid crisis. A hundred million adults in the United States are affected by chronic pain and $600 billion a year is spent on in health care, direct health care costs and lost productivity because of pain.

49,000  people from opioids in 2017, 19,000 of which were from prescribed opioids for pain relief.

So we believe that Photobiomodulation therapy can help reduce the prescribing of opioid medication for pain relief and we wish to draw attention to the Congress and health care policymakers, NIH and CMS, about this potentially valuable tool.

I will start at the beginning, what is photobiomodulation therapy?

Some of you may have seen a TV show in the past called Star Trek.

On Star Trek when somebody was injured they would be taken to sickbay, and the doctor would get out a laser beam and aim it at the injury, and the patients would heal instantly, well that is photobiomodulation.

It is not as fast as on TV, we don't heal people instantly, but you get the idea, we shine a special kind of light on people, and they get better more quickly.

So what is this Photobiomodulation?

Photobiomodulation (PBM) Therapy previously known as Low-Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) is the application of monochromatic light which means light of one color, and if we have light at the right color (or to use the technical phrase the right wavelength) and if the light is of the right intensity, and if we aim it in the right place, for the right amount of time, then we can increase the speed of tissue repair, we can reduce inflammation and edema, and we can induce an analgesic effect.

Most of the published clinical evidence is on musculoskeletal pain (sprains and strains and creaky joints), but there is also evidence for its effect on neuropathic pain, non-healing wounds and oral mucositis a severe side effect of chemotherapy and radiotherapy for which opioids are often prescribed.

Treatments look like this, usually directly to the skin or an injury and it can be intraoral, it can be extraoral, we can do some remote treatments as well.

Photobiomodulation (PBM) is not a heat therapy, the effects on the body are more like photosynthesis in plants because humans and animals will photosynthesize, and you know this already but you not have thought about it before, but you know when we go out in the sun we change color, that is a form of photosynthesis, and we use light to help synthesize vitamin D, and you may know that in hospitals they treat premature babies with blue light to prevent neonatal jaundice, and you may know that dermatologists  use ultraviolet light for treating psoriasis and vitiligo, so we should not be surprised if light has some other effects on the body.

Normally you and patients and many doctors will associate lasers in medicine with cutting and cauterizing tissue. The good news is that not all lasers are dangerous,  some of them are more dangerous than others and that's because there are different classes of lasers. 

Class one lasers are inherently safe, they are used in supermarkets for reading barcodes and nobody gets hurt. The medical lasers you are probably thinking of are Class 4 lasers, they're the ones that have a thermal effect.

PBM Therapy uses Class 3B lasers, they have no harmful effects on skin or clothing but they are potentially hazardous to the eyes. So everybody should be wearing laser safety glasses when PBM lasers are being used, but PBM Therapy also utilizes light-emitting diodes (LEDs), they have some similar qualities to lasers but they also have they have no harmful effects and are usually safe for the eyes.

For the sake of this presentation, we are going to assume that lasers and LEDs do the same thing because mostly they do, we do not have time today to explain when it is best to use lasers or when it might be best to use LEDs.

There are 500 randomized placebo control clinical trials published on PBM and yet most people in medicine have never even heard of it.

There are over 4,000 laboratory studies looking at the mechanism of action and dose-response, and about thirty peer-reviewed research papers are published every month in this field.

Some of the popular medical applications of PBM Therapy include: hard to heal wounds (such as diabetic foot ulcers, venous ulcers and pressure sores), musculoskeletal pain such as tendinopathies, neck pain (as reviewed here in The Lancet).

Reduced use of opioids for Post-operative pain. Postherpetic Neuralgia one of the worst pains that you can get. It’s chronic persistence hypersensitivity and in some patients and its really severe,  people can’t wear shirts and they can’t lie down, they can’t bear to be touched, it drives some people to suicide. At the end of the study 95% of patients discontinued all medication. At 6-month follow-up 80% maintained their reduction in pain.

Oral mucositis is a painful, debilitating side effect of high dose chemotherapy and radiotherapy often requiring opioids for pain control. Thirty-three clinical trials (RCTs) have shown PBM Therapy to be effective in reducing the incidence and severity of oral mucositis.

The Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) recommend the use of PBM Therapy for treating oral mucositis, and in the United Kingdom the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence  (NICE) recommend cancer patients receive this treatment in the UK National Health Service (NHS).

It has been shown in one long term follow-up Oral Mucositis study on 108 patients followed up to 8 years that the active PBM threated group had better long term (cancer) progression-free survival than those in the placebo group.

How can one medicine treat so many different diseases?

You know you shouldn’t believe anything that appears to do everything. PBM does not do everything, it treats one thing and it treats it very well, it is something scientists call it Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), doctors call it Oxidative Stress, and most patients would call them Free Radicals

Light has a profound effect on the production of ROS, but where do they come from? They come from mitochondria. So what are mitochondria? Well, mitochondria are often called the powerhouses of the cell. 

The short story is; when we're sick, injured, stressed or just old, our cells tend to be low on ATP,  high in oxidative stress, when we put PBM Therapy into patients it tips the balance in favor of more ATP and less oxidative stress, and under these circumstances patients get better and more quickly.

PBM Therapy is safe and effective for a wide range of medical conditions where drugs and surgery have failed. It is time for this proven procedure to be considered as a first line medical treatment.

This is not just another form of pain relief, it actually helps people heal.

For more information visit: www.CONGRESSPBM.com

James Carroll has been working on Photobiomodulation for over 30 years (since1987). He is a recognized authority on Photobiomodulation dose, dose rate effects and the measurement and reporting of parameters. He has written or co-authored 18 published academic papers and three books on Laser Photobiomodulation. His most recent appointments include: Biomedical Optics Society conference chair, Fellow of The Royal Society of Medicine, and Editorial Board of Photomedicine and Laser Surgery. He also served on the World Association for Laser Therapy and the North American Association for Laser Therapy. James recently presented Photobiomodulation to the United Nations Global Health Impact Forum.