A decades old consent decree has been lifted against the Republican National Committee's so-called "ballot security" measures. It's a big victory in the RNC's efforts to monitor polling activity and it's a sobering moment for activists who fear this could accelerate voter suppression — especially among minorities.

All indications are that the Democrat Party is in big trouble.

Let’s look back at American political history. This country has had a tradition of having two broad and ideologically fluid coalition parties that contest with each other across the nation. Over our history, two of these American parties have disappeared from existence – the Federalists and the Whigs.

How and why did this happen?

In September 2007, Hillary proposed giving every American child a $5,000 “baby bond” at birth. The Republican National Committee immediately condemned it as a “budget busting baby fund.” Rudy Giuliani dismissed it as pure “pandering” to voters.

They were right then. What changed?

Trump’s version offers $1,000 per child — originally branded “MAGA Accounts,” now called “Trump Accounts.” With around 4 million births annually, taxpayers face a minimum $4 billion yearly obligation. The same policy framework Republicans spent months attacking has somehow become Republican orthodoxy. //

From a corporate finance perspective, this program creates perverse incentives that benefit wealthy families and financial institutions while providing minimal help to working Americans.

The structure allows families to contribute an additional $5,000 annually to these government-seeded accounts. Wealthy families who can afford maximum contributions receive ongoing tax shelters, while working families get a one-time $1,000 payment they likely can’t afford to supplement.

Meanwhile, Wall Street firms are already positioning to manage these accounts. Billions in new assets under management mean substantial fee income for financial institutions. Taxpayers fund the initial deposits, Wall Street collects the management fees, and wealthy families get tax advantages — a perfect trifecta for everyone except the middle class citizens who foot the bill.

Trump’s version contains another critical flaw that makes it worse than Hillary’s income-restricted proposal: no income limits and minimal citizenship verification. While children must be U.S. citizens, parents only need Social Security numbers.

This creates a massive incentive for illegal border crossings. //

Genuine America First policy should focus on proven strategies: cutting spending so working people aren’t killed by government-caused inflation, reducing regulatory burdens on small businesses, curtailing the skyrocketing costs of health insurance by repealing Obamacare, and eliminating corporate welfare programs that benefit connected elites.

Instead of creating new government programs, Republicans should expand existing vehicles like Education Savings Accounts and Health Savings Accounts that already provide tax advantages without requiring taxpayer funding.

Real pro-family policy means letting families keep more of their own money through tax cuts and other conservative reforms, not redistributing taxpayer dollars through government accounts managed by Wall Street firms.

President Trump and Sen. Cruz are sound conservatives who received bad advice from establishment insiders. But they can still correct course.

The test of conservative leadership isn’t avoiding all mistakes — it’s recognizing bad advice quickly and changing direction.

This column really has two audiences. The first is moderate Republicans who are getting in the way of major fiscal reforms necessary to correct decades of financial irresponsibility. The second is Republican leadership who, in all honesty, are in a tough position trying to herd a bunch of unruly cats with personality disorders ranging from extreme anxiety to a desire to fight everything that moves.

Throughout this entire chaotic budget fight over the One Big Beautiful Bill, a dangerous delusion has begun creeping back into the Republican Party, especially among the moderate class and some in GOP leadership. It’s this belief they are getting once again that they won’t be able to win and stay in power if they don’t moderate on some of their positions. //

Trump didn’t win the presidency by compromising on his positions. Republicans didn’t retake the Senate by tacking to the center. The House didn’t hold together by hedging on tough issues. Conservative ideas won because voters rejected the Democrats’ failures and backed the vision Republicans offered. Republicans, in a moment of rare competence, had plans. The Democrats had fear.

Moderates want you to believe otherwise. They’re pushing to water down conservative reforms, cut deals on spending, avoid social issues, and retreat from the cultural battles that defined the campaign. Why? Because they think it’ll save their seats in the 2026 midterms. They’re even now still floating the idea that Roe v. Wade being overturned was bad and that Planned Parenthood funding is an issue we should let slide.

Medicaid reform? Don’t touch it. Budget cuts? Political suicide, they claim.

But if 2022 taught us anything, it’s that poor candidates, not conservative ideas, hurt the GOP’s momentum. And while the GOP should have won in Georgia, Arizona, and Pennsylvania, they didn’t because the candidates were terrible and were awful messengers of the alternative Republicans promised.

And in 2024, conservative messaging delivered wins across the board. There is zero evidence that elected Republicans trimming conservative principles from their governing style helps them win. None. The voters who turned out for Trump didn’t do so because they wanted moderation. They did it because they wanted action on the multiple issues that came with Democratic governance under the Biden administration. //

I’ll be blunt: Moderate politicians didn’t get us Republican governance. Conservatives did. And moderate voters looked between the progressive and conservative politicians and decided that the conservative ones had the best ideas for getting us out of the mess we were (and still are) in. //

Here’s what’s really happening: the moderates are scared. They’re afraid of being unpopular for five minutes on MSNBC and CNN. They’re afraid of upsetting entrenched interests. They’re afraid of standing firm on conservative values because they might get uncomfortable headlines.

But guess what? The voters who elected you don’t care about your cable news appearances. They care about results.

They care about whether you meant it when you said you’d cut the size of government. They care about whether you’ll hold the line on spending. They care about whether you’ll stand up for their values, not compromise them away to keep a seat warm.

The American people are tired of promises. They’re tired of Republicans winning elections only to govern like Democrats. I won’t go so far as to say they want bold, unapologetic leadership instead of political triangulation, but I will point out that they did elect Donald Trump twice. //

This isn’t about ideology for ideology’s sake. It’s about governing with integrity. Voters gave conservatives a mandate—so act like it. That means keeping our promises. That means following through. That means stop being afraid of doing what’s right just because it’s not easy.

You weren’t elected to be safe. You were elected to be bold. So grow a spine, get back in the fight, and give the voters the leadership they were promised. //

bocmatt
6 hours ago
I believe most of the "Moderates" are not moderates, they are Democrats who can't win in red areas so they run as Republicans. They MAY be moderate Dems at their core, but still are not reliable. Andrew Wikow calls them "the republican wing of the democratic party". Sounds about right.

Tillis also expressed disagreement with Trump's pardon of J6'ers, and said that if Martin were being nominated as U.S. Attorney for any other district except the one where the January 6 protests happened he would "probably" support the nomination. That is a nonsensical distinction. Either the man is qualified to be a U.S. Attorney - regardless of jurisdiction - or he's not. Tillis is attempting to enforce a litmus test on this nominee related to past events and the ability to punish political enemies, and that says a whole lot more about Tillis than it does Martin.

Perhaps Tillis would rather have someone like Merrick Garland in the position since Tillis voted to confirm Garland as Attorney General. //

Debnco
4 hours ago
I don’t know if Tillis realizes it, but he is not there to vote for himself. He is there to vote for the people of North Carolina who elected him. //

GSD Owner
4 hours ago
Thune is turning out to be McConnell light. Allowing anyone with Liz Cheney’s Jan 6 viewpoint anywhere near the judiciary committee is political malpractice.

In March, FBI Director Kash Patel made a major move regarding the 2017 congressional baseball practice shooting and provided the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence all the documents they had requested regarding the incident. In a joint statement, the Judiciary, Intelligence, and Oversight committees issued a scathing joint report Tuesday alleging that the FBI bungled their investigation and tried to cover up the political motivations of the shooter:

The House Judiciary Committee, Intelligence Committee and Intelligence Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigation released the scathing, unclassified report on its findings Tuesday after combing through roughly 3,000 case file documents it was given last month on the attack that wounded six, including current House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), and led to the death of gunman James T. Hodgkinson.

“This is the same FBI that can’t tell us who planted the pipe bomb [on Jan. 6, 2021], who can’t tell us who leaked the Dobbs opinion and who can tell us who put cocaine at the White House,” House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) chided Tuesday morning. //

That suppressed evidence includes key details about a handwritten note found on [shooter] Hodgkinson that listed several Republicans as targets.

At the time, the FBI said it found a sheet of paper that had names of six members of Congress, but did not elaborate.

Since 2020, hundreds of Republican attorneys have faced challenges to their law licenses for making conservative arguments in court. //

Republican Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita petitioned the state Supreme Court Thursday to stop threats to his law license over his pro-life legal efforts. It’s the latest development in years of abortion litigation and advocacy involving Congress, the White House, and ongoing media coverage that began in 2022, when Indiana abortionist Caitlin Bernard disclosed she’d committed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio. //

In the 2024 elections, Rokita was the largest vote-getter of all statewide candidates, winning re-election by nearly 18 points despite the charges against his law license. Rokita earned more votes than every other candidate on Indiana ballots, except for Donald Trump. Hoosier voters clearly weighed in strongly against procedural efforts to impede Rokita’s work as attorney general. //

At the time it began pursuing charges against Rokita, public records showed every Disciplinary Commission member with a record of political donations had donated to Democrat Party candidates. At the time, the board was also chaired by a Democrat prosecutor who publicly supported Wells in 2024 and has made numerous donations to other pro-abortion candidates.

Charlie Kirk @charliekirk11
·
CNN: "Donald Trump and the Republicans have changed the electorate...there are more Republicans in the electorate than there are Democrats."

2017: 🔵D+5
2021:🔵D+6
2025:🔴R+2

Boom!!

2:43 PM · Feb 19, 2025

This is what happened from 2005 to 2009. During his second term, President Bush violated the following crucial electoral maxims:

1. A Second Term Republican President Should Never Abandon the Party Base on Important Issues;
2. A Second Term Republican President Should Never Surrender on the Political Battlefield;
3. A Second Term Republican President Should Never Fall for the Sweet Nothings of the MSM and the Democrat Establishment; and
4. A Second Term Republican President Should Also Beware the (Similar) Sweet Nothings of the GOP Establishment and more liberal Republicans.

Post-2005, President Bush abandoned his GOP party base multiple times.

From his confirmation hearing, it was clear that RFK Jr. knows his most significant challenge will be bringing Medicare and Medicaid under control and improving the quality of service to consumers. He also understands the nature of the opposition he will face from monied interests who make money off of keeping us on drugs for a lifetime rather than focusing on exercise and nutrition as critical factors in keeping us healthy. Just remember, we don't have a health care system -- we have a sick care system. There is no money to be made off healthy, active people.

Even though RFK Jr. is not in sync with the Trump administration on everything, abortion comes to mind. I have no doubt that he will be a team player and color within the lines because this is the last chance of his lifetime to make a difference, and he is more focused on being a change agent than an ideologue.

The nomination of RFK Jr. to HHS has the possibility of being a brilliant pick that puts the US on track to better health and a much more sane use of health care and medical research dollars, or an utter disaster. But like with Tulsi Gabbard, Trump is the guy who will pay the price if RFK Jr. self-immolates and if he is fine with that risk, he deserves to have his man in place.

Now he does. //

anon-j4cj
4 hours ago
This guy Kennedy is supposedly a Democrat, and how many Democrats voted for him ? ZERO! Don't ever buy that "reaching across the aisle" BS again! It doesn't exist. This is our triangulation of the Democrats with RFK, Jr. and Tulsi. WE are the ones with the coalition; Americans are throwing off the chains of Marxist slavery. //

epaddon
4 hours ago
The irony for all those Dems and liberals who have spent decades with their silly Camelot nostalgia and pining for a restoration that the first Kennedy to serve in a Cabinet since 1964 is in a Republican Administration. :). //

GBenton ECoolidge19
3 hours ago
The political spectrum is changed. It's the elite vs the people more than right or left, at least with most Americans who are not hardcore partisans. I've come to believe that the Uniparty divided us into R vs D and then played pretend like there was an actual difference. Reality was the RINOs made sure the limited government Christian conservatives never won. Government only ever grew. We were told that was inevitable. Real reformers like Reagan were impeded by establishment RINOs like the Bushes who support bigger government in perhaps only marginally different ways than establishment Dems. Thus, the progressive Commies are mad they never got their full Communism and conservatives are mad we keep losing to the left. Now, Trump has taken populist ideas and shown that we can agree on more than we disagree on the core stuff like health and liberty. We'll have to agree to disagree on some things and let voters decide at the state level, but that's Federalism. Either way, the Uniparty can no longer divide us into fake party lines.

Holy cow! We're talking eight figures in many cases. Now, the time scale runs from 1990 to 2024; we might note that the guy in second place, Raphael Warnock (D-GA), wasn't elected until 2021. So in three years, the reverend managed to rake in Big Pharma bucks to the tune of $14 million and change. He's in second place - and guess who's in first?

If you guessed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I), the daffy old Boshevik from Vermont, you guessed right. The pharmaceutical companies and the organizations associated with them have been feeling the Bern to the tune of $23,193,451. "Medical Societies" are the biggest donor bribers; they're into Bernie for over half that amount, $12,749,883. When Sanders claims he hasn't taken any money from Big Pharma CEOs, we should notice that he's specifying CEOs because he's taking a lot of money from the medical societies that they doubtlessly belong to. //

The only thing Bernie gets right about what socialism claims to be is that, despite his massive net worth, he still looks and dresses like a flood victim.

Political Polls
@Politics_Polls
·
Follow
Trump Job Approval:

Approve 49%
Disapprove 41%

.@EmersonPolling, 1,000 RV, 1/27-28
https://emersoncollegepolling.com/january-2025-national-poll-trump-starts-term-with-49-approval-41-disapproval-rating/
1:56 AM · Jan 31, 2025

But even more amazing was the response to a question in the same poll about whether the country is now on the right track. They had numbers from earlier in January -- before Trump was inaugurated -- that had 67 percent saying it was on the wrong track, and only 33 percent thought it was on the right track.

But now -- with Trump in office -- there was a 19-point shift, to a majority of Americans -- 52 percent -- thinking the country is now on the right track, with 48 percent saying it's on the wrong track. That's a huge and significant shift, and it's an indication they're embracing/approving Trump's actions, that they believe good things are happening and are going to happen. //

According to a Quinnipiac poll, 57 percent of registered voters have an unfavorable opinion about Democrats. Only 31 percent are favorable. That's the worst for the Democrats since Quinnipiac started asking the question in 2008. Meanwhile, according to Axios, they didn't ask this question about the unfavorability of Democrats between August 2019 and January 2025. That says so much right there. Gee, I wonder why that would be?

Forty-three percent have a favorable opinion of the Republicans versus the 31 percent favorability for the Democrats, also the largest favorability gap favoring the Republicans since 2008. And 58 percent of Democrats or independents leaning Democrat think the party needs "major changes or to be completely reformed." //

media is corrupt
6 hours ago
Biden did not campaign on being woke. Once he got into office, he and his "handlers" threw open the border and went wild with leftist "woke" policies. He was not the Moderate he ran as.
Trump told everyone what he would do when he ran for office. No one should be shocked that he's actually doing what he promised on the campaign trail.

We are well past the point of this being a matter of Republicans being confident this stuff is an electoral loser. The empirical data tells us it is. The 2024 election saw Donald Trump come roaring back into the White House, winning the popular vote while heavily promoting an anti-woke agenda. Analysts in the press repeatedly claimed the now-president's ads on transgenderism that ended with "Kamala is for they/them, Trump is for you" (or some variation) would alienate people. Instead, they were the most effective ads of the cycle.

Democrats hinted at changing course on far-left identity insanity shortly after the election, but if the answers at this DNC forum are any indication, they've dropped that idea altogether and are going full-bore in the other direction. //

Democrats can't help but do the Principal Skinner meme again and again. You see, it's not that they are out of touch and completely unappealing to normal people due to their insane policy prescriptions and ideological viewpoints. It's just that people are too stupid to see how great they are and simply need to be fed better propaganda. //

But hey, if Democrats want to keep banging the woke drum, I'd encourage them to do it. Republicans may never lose another election if they keep this up. //

The Left only destroys
35 minutes ago
Bonchie, I HATE this headline. It ain't over till it's over, and it will never be over. Complacency almost cost us the republic, and we came back from the brink. Conservatives need to run their elections at all times as if they are behind. Don't let up on efforts to eliminate leftism. Never assume victory.

Vince Lombardi told his players in their first meeting, "Gentlemen, we are going to relentlessly pursue perfection, knowing all along we will never achieve it, but in pursuing perfection, we will catch excellence." A similar sentiment applies here. We must relentlessly pursue elimination of Leftism, knowing all along we will never achieve it, but in pursuing it, we will catch peace and prosperity. //

Laocoön of Troy bk
23 minutes ago edited
There might be a reason for the Dems to keep American Indians out of the leadership of the DNC. In the 2024 election, 65% of American Indians voted for Trump. That was his highest percentage among the various "minorities". 65% is a MASSIVE landslide in terms of preference in a General Election.

The craziest of the crazy lefties...I'm lookin' at you Hogg...are soft, white, wealthy women with a terminal case of white liberal guilt. Except for the girl thing...that would be Hogg and his comrades.

Daily Wire @realDailyWire
.
@charliekirk11 says he has a criteria for which Republicans should face a serious primary challenge.

1) They represent a "deep, deep red state"
2) A pattern of not listening to voters on core issues
3) They don't support Trump's cabinet nominees
11:54 AM · Dec 30, 2024

Hakeem Jeffries
·
Dec 18, 2024
@RepJeffries
·
House Republicans have been ordered to shut down the government.

And hurt the working class Americans they claim to support.

You break the bipartisan agreement, you own the consequences that follow.

Elon Musk @elonmusk
·
You seem to think the public is dumb.

They are not.
4:51 PM · Dec 18, 2024 //

Elon Musk @elonmusk
·
The voice of the people was heard.

This was a good day for America.

Chad Pergram @ChadPergram
GOP KY Rep Barr on CR: The phone was ringing off the hook today. And you know why? Because they were reading the tweets, the X from musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, and they were telling me that they were, that they were listening to them.. this shows the influence that president,…
5:12 PM · Dec 18, 2024

I'm asking congressional Republicans to read this slowly because it might confuse them, but they have a majority. That means they can now pass a clean CR. If Democrats then vote it down, angry that they didn't get their pork-filled 1,500-page monstrosity, then they will be the ones shutting the government down. Jeffries would be forced to eat his own words about hurting "everyday Americans."

The same thing applies to all the emotional pleas about "disaster relief."

Again, make Democrats own this. If they want to make disaster relief a marker, then pass a standalone bill and make them vote it down. What excuse would they have to do so after they proclaimed how vital it is? And if Democrats do scuttle it, then Republicans can go to the podium and place the blame where it belongs.

It's so simple, and I'm at a loss as to why that wasn't the plan in the first place. If Republicans can't grow a backbone and play hardball now, especially when the opportunity is being handed to them on a silver platter, then when can they? Democrats have no leverage, and it's long past time they are made to understand what losing actually entails. It means not getting all your priorities passed because you scream "crisis" every few months after refusing to govern in a normal fashion.

Republicans need to put their differences aside and come together to do the smart thing. Pass a clean CR and force the hand of Democrat leadership.

Gunther Eagleman™
@GuntherEagleman
·
Follow
WOW—CNN just released a poll showing that 55% of Americans approve of the way Trump is handling the transition.

You know they hate giving Trump positive press.

4:37 PM · Dec 11, 2024 //

(((Harry Enten)))
@ForecasterEnten
·
Follow
It's Trump Party & his GOP opponents can cry if they want to...

1. Almost all GOP who voted to impeach/convict Trump are gone from Congress.

2. 96% (!!!) GOP voters approve of his prez transition, which is up 16 pts (!) from Jan 2017.

3. All 2028 GOP frontrunners are MAGA.

10:27 AM · Dec 16, 2024 //

Bottom line? The American people voted for Trump and his policies. That's what they want put through. They want an economy that doesn't run them over; they want a secure border; they don't want to be involved in endless wars. And they want the government cleaned out and reoriented to its true purpose and not an ever-mushrooming money pit bureaucracy that seeks to control us.

The approach is going to be everybody line up. If you want to survive, you better be good. Don't get on Santa's naughty list here because we will primary you." She mentions Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and her questions about SecDef nominee Pete Hegseth, but Ernst had already indicated she was supportive of Hegseth by the time Murkowski made these remarks. //

It should surprise no one that voters who voted in Trump should want Republican senators to support the nominees Trump has put forth, in order to implement his agenda. That's why they put him in office -- so he could implement the agenda they want. It's not even "allegiant to party" -- it's being allegiant to the voters. If the voters don't like what you are doing, then yes, they are going to primary you and try to vote you out.

That's how the process works. You're supposed to represent them. And supporting the nominees isn't going to "energize the Democrats" -- not supporting the nominees is going to energize the Democrats. If Trump's agenda is put into place it's going to reduce the control of the Democrats and benefit Americans and the entire country.

If a "Republican" doesn't get that, that's a problem. //

Claudius54
an hour ago
"She claimed that she wasn't attached to the label of "Republican.""

... well, at least she's being honest.

From Wiki: According to CQ Roll Call, she voted with President Barack Obama's position 72.3% of the time in 2013; she was one of only two Republicans to vote with Obama over 70% of the time. She opposed Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination in 2018 and supported Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court nomination in 2022. In 2021, she was one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict Donald Trump of incitement of insurrection in his second impeachment trial; the Alaska Republican Party censured her for that vote.

If she runs again, I doubt that "ranked choice" is going to save her ... given that she's the 'rankest' possible choice.

Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States from 1829 to 1837, seeking to act as the direct representative of the common man.
More nearly than any of his predecessors, Andrew Jackson was elected by popular vote; as President he sought to act as the direct representative of the common man. Decrying officeholders who seemed to enjoy life tenure, he believed Government duties could be “so plain and simple” that offices should rotate among deserving applicants. //

While "populism" means different things to different people — much like the left's definition of "inclusion" doesn't mean to the rest of us what it means to Democrats — here's how Merriam-Webster defines the term:

... a political philosophy or movement that represents or is claimed to represent the interests of ordinary people especially against the Establishment.

Populism usually arises from a general discontent. … People feel that things are out of control, socially and economically. … The idea that this is the fault of the meritocratic elite. //

As big as Donald Trump’s victory was, his conservative populism’s political potential is bigger still.

While the primary post-election focus has been on where Trump over-performed, there are significant areas where he underperformed too.

And if Republicans could capture some of the votes Trump left on the table, they could significantly exceed Trump’s impressive 2024 victory margin in the future.

There is no reason conservative populism should not have at least an equal appeal to moderates. After all, Trump was able to tie Harris among voters who said abortion should be legal in most cases.

Listen, I think you should have the Biden administration look at itself. What is the qualification of Tony Blinken to become secretary of state? Well, he organized 51 so-called intelligence experts to put together a fake letter saying that the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation. That must have qualified him to be secretary of state. President Trump is entitled to name his appointees. That is exactly what he's doing, and I'm going to support this appointment. Kash has worked at national security. He's worked at the Department of Justice, and he's somebody that has been willing to uncover the wrongs at the FBI. He's the one that uncovered for the American public what happened with Russia-gate. He's the one that can see through the fix here. //

Chelan Jim Random US Citizen
5 hours ago
I think the Republicans have always been acutely aware of the leftist bias of the media but they did not feel they dare tackle it if they wanted to avoid crossfire and stay in office. Now that a majority of the population recognize this bias exist, the politicians are more immune to the the influence media has.

I have always said, the reason Republicans lose races are often because they are honest. The left has always been dishonest and the media gives them cover. So I don't fault the Republicans that know they could have been ruined by the media if the media decides they are a target.

Some may say the Republicans are cowards. Well, I live in a state that we can't seem to elect a Republican to save our soul in a statewide election. I almost wish a few of them would just not be so obvious about all of their views until they get elected. It is all in the perspectives you have. //

anon-skk0
4 hours ago
Biden appointed his team to play defense. Trumps picks are going to play offense. //

Largo Patriot
4 hours ago
One of the criticisms of Patel is he is not an FBI agent who came up through the ranks, but neither did James Comey and Christopher Wray. The problem with the FBI is an internal one, which is why an outsider is needed to clean it up. The FBI Director's first duty is to the American people, not his fellow FBI agents, and the "we investigated ourselves and determined we did nothing wrong" is not working for the American people, especially those who find themselves staring down the barrel of a gun pointed at them by FBI swat team members in the middle of the night.