In a new Prager University short video, “How The States Can Save America,” former South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint explains how the States can drain the ever-expanding swamp in Washington, D.C.

“The federal government has become a lumbering giant,” said DeMint. “With each passing year, it gets bigger and scarier. In 1965, Washington was $761 billion big. In 2016 … it was 3.5 trillion – five times the size.”

He continues, “If the government spent only the money it collected in taxes, that would be one thing. But it always spends more­­ … which is why we’re $20 trillion dollars in debt. That’s 13 zeroes. Count ‘em: Thirteen. But the crazy spending isn’t even the worst of it. Washington is involved in every part of our lives.”

The former Republican lawmaker explains how the government is involved with every aspect of your life, from buying a car to buying groceries.

“The government has its hands on your shoulder if not your throat,” DeMint warns.

So how do we solve this problem? The obvious answer is for Congress to come together and pass amendments with the approval of the states in conjunction with the first half of the Article 5 of the Constitution. Unfortunately, that does not work, as most lawmakers want to hold onto the power they are give.

There is another solution, DeMint underscores. The second half of Article 5 states, “on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments.”

“Congress must call a convention to amend the Constitution if two-thirds of the states, that’s 34 states, demand it,” says DeMint. “The time has come to demand it. The time has come to propose amendments that will restore meaningful limits on federal power and authority. The time has come for a convention of states.”

He continues, “Here’s how it would work: Once the 34 states call a convention, all 50 states send a delegate to represent their interests. For any constitutional amendments proposed, each state gets one vote. And an amendment only passes out of the convention and to the states for ratification if a majority of the states’ delegates vote in the affirmative. In this scenario, Congress has no say. It is completely in the hands of the states, which means it’s a whole lot closer to the hands of the people.”

The convention of states proposes several amendments, including term limits for members of Congress, limits on spending, and keeping Congress from exempting itself from laws it passes.

“The time is now,” says DeMint.

Watch the video below:

To learn more about the Convention of States, click here.

According to the FBI indictment, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort made a pretty penny handling public relations for Putin-allied forces in the Ukraine. Between Manafort and his associate Richard Gates, their work generated tens of million in extra income, which Manafort used, in part, to trick out his wardrobe.

Unfortunately, the U.S. government frowns on doing business with foreign entities, particularly those its not friendly with, and, according to the FBI’s timeline of events, Manafort and Grant had to do something with all that cash to avoid reporting it to the Feds.

For the most part, Manafort and Grant allegedly ran the money through offshore banks and accounts. Manafort reportedly funneled around $75 million into his personal coffers this way, using cash from his foreign accounts to purchase domestic real estate, then getting loans against those same properties.

He could then spend the cash, but the U.S. government, for at least a while, had no idea where the cash was coming from. He also never reported or paid taxes on any of that income, to add trouble on top of trouble.

Like Walter White in Breaking Bad, Manafort and Grant apparently suffered from a surplus of cash. Unable to report it or invest it, Manafort, at least, spent it on some pretty fancy things.

According to the FBI charging documents, Manafort had a great time spending some of the ill-gotten gains.

The former Trump official paid a “Home Automation, Lighting and Home Entertainment Company” $1,319,218 over the course of two years, apparently to add a top-notch home theater to one of his many multi-million dollar residences.

Obviously needing to make sure his rooms were pulled together, Manafort dropped another $934,350 at an Antique Rug Store in Alexandria, Virginia. He paid another vendor, related to the rug shop, $100,000, possibly for cleaning or alterations.

Manafort also, apparently, had a taste for designer duds. According to the indictment, he wired $849,215 to a men’s clothing store in New York City over the course of six years — enough for several high-end wardrobes — and $520,440 to a clothing store in Beverly Hills, California, over the course of four years. The revelations are shocking not just because it seems impossible to spend that much money, but because Manafort never looked all that pulled together on the campaign trail.

If you’re a Republican, you apparently want to run down minority children in your confederate flag-sporting pickup truck, or at least condone such behavior. That’s the clear message sent in an attack ad launched against gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie (R-VA).

In the vile ad from the Democrat-aligned Latino Victory Fund, a pickup truck with a Confederate flag and “Don’t Trend on Me” and pro-Ed Gillespie bumper stickers is seen terrorizing innocent minority children in a neighborhood. The truck chases the children toward the back of a fenced-in dark alley with no escape. The children are finally shown waking up from the nightmare before the truck can presumably finish them off.

“Is this what Donald Trump and Ed Gillespie mean by the American dream?” a narrator says as the children wake up.

There are also images of adults watching TV coverage of the Charlottesville rally, where white nationalists marched with torches to protest the destruction of a Confederate statue. The event turned violent and fatal when white nationalists clashed with Antifa counter-protesters.

“The commercial, which the Latino Victory Fund says is airing through Election Day on Spanish-language stations in Richmond and Washington market, is the latest in a bitter battle on the airwaves,” reports The Washington Post.

Latino Victory Fund President Cristóbal J. Alex said the ad portrays “what Latino and immigrant communities feel right now.”

“It’s a very stark ad, but those portrayals in the ad are what Latino and immigrant communities feel right now in Virginia,” Alex said. “If Gillespie is successful in scapegoating Latinos and borrowing from Trump’s playbook, we will see those types of attacks against our community throughout the 2018 midterms.”

Gillespie’s Democratic opponent, Ralph Northam, has yet to denounce the ad; on the contrary, Northam spokesman Ofirah Yheskel seemingly applauded the racially-charged commercial:

“Independent groups are denouncing Ed Gillespie because he has run the most divisive, fear mongering campaign in modern history,” said Yheskel. “It is not shocking that communities of color are scared of what his Trump-like policy positions mean for them.”

Gillespie has returned fire via his campaign manager Chris Leavitt:

“Now his allies have reached a new low with a disgusting, vile television ad seeking to instill fear in our children with that same imagery,” said Leavitt. “This is not an attack on Ed Gillespie anymore. This is an all out attack on the people of Virginia. This latest ad gives a clear indication of just what Ralph Northam and his national Democratic allies think of all of us, and it’s sickening.”

But this is standard practice of the Left: paint your opponents as racists who want to harm minority children and actively promote racial tensions.

WATCH:

http://ift.tt/1JiPjvr