Dem Speaker Rails Against the Rich, Actually Gets $40k Per Hour


A guy who makes this much money for speaking ought to know when to keep his mouth shut.

Robert Reich, the former labor secretary during the Clinton administration, and a man who’s been a liberal icon for most of his career in academia and Democrat governments, has made a good name for himself being a public face of leftist policies.

He’s also made a very, very good living.

Reich’s income as a professor of public policy at the University of California-Berkeley, as well as a side income he’s received from lucrative speaking engagements, came flashing into the public eye after Reich took to Twitter to moan about a Wall Street Journal report about very rich people who are able to afford keeping sharks as pets.

Reich’s tweet was almost a caricature of liberal angst.

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First of all, it’s always funny when Democrats start a line of argument with “at a time when….” And they’ve been doing it for decades, like their party is oddly detached from the realities of American political life it’s done so much to warp since the Eisenhower administration.

Second of all, from Reich’s tweet, a reader could easily get the impression the guy is living out of his car on the Berkeley campus, showering in the school gym, and cadging meals where he could in Southern California.

Fortunately, iconic conservative commentator Michelle Malkin was around to point out how obscenely wealthy (as a liberal might put it) Reich has gotten by denouncing the wealthiest people in America.

According to a 2014 article from the conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute, Reich was making just more than $240,000 per year for his faculty Berkeley faculty job. (His current salary was unavailable Tuesday, but he’s still at Berkeley and there’s no reason to think he’s making any less.)

Will Americans catch on to the kind of scam liberals like Reich are running?

Besides almost a quarter-million-dollars a year in regular pay, AEI reported, “he commands a handsome speaking fee of $40,000 for a one-hour talk (including Q&A) plus first class travel for one or two people from California, hotel accommodations for up to two nights, ground transportation, meals and incidentals.”

The robber barons of America’s Gilded Age, the one liberals like Reich love to despise, never had it so good. Indeed, as Malkin’s tweet pointed out, the guy who was complaining about how filthy rich some of America’s wealthy are is actually making more money than most CEOs.

Just his $40,000 speaking fee for one hour is almost equal to a yearly average American wage of about $45,000, as described in a Bureau of Labor Statistics news release from July 17.

RELATED: Obama Cashes in $1.2 Mil From Source He’d Rather We Didn’t Know About

In fact, according to a California Public Policy Center study from 2016, Professor Reich’s considerable income put him in the top 2 percent of Americans by wealth.

Naturally, Reich’s shark tweet attracted its share of critics for the evident hypocrisy.

One Twitter user even asked if Reich would be willing to give up three-quarters of his salary to help someone less fortunate.

Please. Reich probably thinks he’s worth every penny of his time for whatever wisdom comes from a career spent with a snout deep in the public trough.

Considering how long that career’s lasted, though, he can’t be surprised at the criticism either.

But a guy who gets paid so much to talk really ought to know when to keep his mouth shut.

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via Conservative Tribune

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Ben Shapiro Wrecks Ocasio-Cortez in Bombshell ‘Interview’


She might not know much about real-life economics, but she’s helping build a cottage industry in conservative comedy.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the country’s most famous female “democratic socialist,” and second only to Vermont’s socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders for the all-around title, has been proving herself to be a national embarrassment when it comes to being interviewed by anyone other than a fawning fan.

First, her interview with Margaret Hoover on the reborn PBS show “Firing Line” showed Ocasio-Cortez to be pretty much a 28-year-old ignoramus spouting off about issues she has little comprehension of.

That led to a satirical version of the interview posted by conservative commentator Allie Beth Stuckey that actually drew outrage from some on the left who clearly didn’t quite get the joke.

More recently, Ocasio-Cortez landed an interview with the much more sympathetically liberal Trevor Noah of “The Daily Show,” and ended up with reviews that were just as bad as those for Ocasio-Cortez’s performance with Hoover.

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Anyone with the time or interest can view it here, but the respected political writer Charles C.W. Cooke at National Review described it up nicely: “There is only one thing more awkward than the guy who hasn’t read the book his book report is supposed to be dissecting, and that is the guy who hasn’t read it and who doesn’t know he’s embarrassing himself by pretending that he has. That’s Ocasio-Cortez.”

As disastrous as Ocasio-Cortez’s performance was, it did have the redeeming quality of giving conservative commentator Ben Shapiro ammunition for his own satirical interview with the Democrat candidate for Congress in New York’s 14th Congressional District.

And it might be even funnier than Stuckey’s. Check it out here:

And the reception for Shapiro’s satirical “interview” said more about Ocasio-Cortez’s candidacy than a hundred thumbsucking sit-downs with the establishment media ever will.

One Twitter user pointed out that it the interview was obviously satirical because “does anyone really think she would have the guts to debate Ben?”

In a word, No.

RELATED: Mike Rowe Recounts How Trump’s Bathrobe Helped Him Defeat Hillary

Do you think Ocasio-Cortez will be in Congress four years from now?

If a Democrat “It” girl can’t make it through a series of softball questions from a liberal host with a liberal audience like Trevor Noah and “The Daily Show” without embarrassing herself, she wouldn’t have a prayer against a conservative who was really trying to do damage. (Hoover showed a lot of class on PBS.)

Ocasio-Cortez is, unfortunately, probably a lock to win her race in New York, in a district where Republicans are so rare as to be an endangered species. But her real use to liberals diminishes with her every turn in the public eye.

She is, however, proving to be a real boon for the conservative comedy sector of the economy.

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via Conservative Tribune

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Maxine Waters Goes Full-Mental-Jacket, Credits Obama for Booming Economy


Democrat Congresswoman Maxine Waters claimed over the weekend that former President Barack Obama — and not the current President Donald Trump — deserves credit for the economy doing so well.

On Friday, Trump touted the U.S. gross domestic product hitting 4.1 percent during the second quarter for the first time since 2014. He also stated the nation is on track to achieve its highest annual GDP in 13 years.

The president also pointed out that unemployment claims are at their lowest number since 1969, while the unemployment rate among African-Africans, Hispanics, and Asians reached their lowest levels ever recorded.

For the first time in U.S. history there are more jobs available than unemployed Americans.

Appearing on MSNBC on Sunday, Waters was asked about the impressive numbers the president rattled off.

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“Of course, the economy has improved, and of course he would like to take credit for all of that,” the Californian said.

“But in the final analysis,” she continued, “when this country understands and feels what has been done with the tax scam and what that’s going to do for our deficit in this country, it’s going to be reversed.”

Waters took it a step further, saying Trump’s economic policies would ultimately “undermine” the good work of the Obama administration.

Do you think Trump deserves credit for the booming economy?

“A combination of the tax scam and the tariffs will undermine all that has been done in the economy that was started by Obama,” she said, according to The Daily Caller.

For the record, the GDP grew at 1.6 percent during Obama’s final year in office in 2016, according to CBS. During Trump’s first year in office, the rate was 2.3 percent, according to CNN Money.

The day after Trump’s election in 2016, the Dow Jones Industrial Average spiked over 250 points, closing at a record high of 18,589, CNN Money reported.

Over the next year, it blew through the 19,000, 20,000…23,000, and now sits over at over 25,000.

The 31 percent rise during Trump’s first year represents the best tally since the 1930s, when the market was recovering from the 1929 crash, according to CNBC.

Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, credits the economy’s strength to four very un-Obama policies Trump implemented since taking office.

“We’ve lowered tax rates, we’ve rolled back regulations, we’ve unleashed energy, we’re moving to fix the broken world trading system. You can see big numbers on capital spending, business investment,” he told Fox News on Friday.

In December 2017, Trump signed into law a tax package that took the U.S. corporate tax rate from 35 percent — the highest in the industrialized world — to 21 percent, which is a little lower than the average.

The tax law also allows companies to write off 100 percent of their investments in new equipment and buildings.

Additionally, during its first year, the Trump administration cut the number of regulations in the Federal Register by 35 percent (or over 30,000 pages) to its lowest since 1993, according to the Competitive Enterprise Institute. The page count hit an all-time high during Obama’s final year at 95,894. As of the end of December 2017, it stood at 61,950 pages.

Further, Reuters reported that oil production on federal lands rose 7 percent in 2017 to its highest level in at least a decade, while production on private lands rose 5 percent to 9.3 million barrels per day, a figure not seen since the 1970s.

Finally, Trump has made renegotiating the United States’ trade relationships with other countries a top priority.

He has used tariffs to bring other nations to the negotiating table, which appears to have already borne fruit with the European Union, whose leader pledged last week to work toward zero tariffs with the United States.

The president proudly highlighted that the U.S. trade deficit shrank by $52 billion during the second quarter.

Both Trump and Kudlow predicted that when new trade agreements come online, the United States economy will grow even stronger.

“I agree with the president,” Kudlow said on Friday. “This is a boom that will be sustainable. Frankly, as far as the eye can see, this is no one-shot effort.”

Waters may not want to hear it, but the truth is the nation experienced its worst economic recovery since World War II under Obama’s leadership (2 percent GDP growth over eight years, according to Forbes). The Obama economy was marked by the lowest labor participation rate since the 1970s and a record number of Americans receiving food stamps, according to Fox News.

Both those number have turned around under the 45th president.

Congresswoman, like it or not, we are in the Trump economy.

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Police force resigns over poor working conditions: ‘We refuse to put our lives on the line anymore’

The entire Blandford, Massachusetts, police force has resigned because of poor working conditions, according to WGGB-TV.

What are the details?

According to WGGB, Blandford’s interim police chief and three officers who made up the force resigned without apparent warning this week. The news outlet reported that the officers resigned because of poor working conditions.

In a statement sent to WGGB, Chief Roberta Sarnacki, Officer Chris Anciello, Officer Gage Terlik, and Officer Krysten Scapin said that they were leaving their positions effective immediately over the “current situation with the department” as well as “unsafe working conditions.”

The outlet reported that some of those conditions included inadequate staffing, improper radio communication systems, mechanical issues with patrol cars, poor bulletproof vests, and issues with wages.

The statement added, “We refuse to put our lives on the line anymore for a town that seemingly cares so little about us.”

“We regret leaving the town without a town police force, but we have no choice given the situation that we face,” a portion of the statement said.

On Monday, the town’s selectboard released a statement acknowledging the department’s resignation and castigated Sarnacki for leading an “officer walk-out.”

The statement read:

For the past two months Interim Chief Sarnacki has done a fine job with our police officers and our police department. It is unfortunate that she led this officer walk out as she would have been considered as one of our candidates for Acting Chief position as we pursue the future opportunities with our police force. We have had multiple public meetings with our police force and have offered them the opportunity to engage and provide their opinions for the direction of the force.

We have reached out to our neighboring communities to insure the safety and security of our citizens. Until such time residents should continue as normal to dial 911 in the event of any emergency and local or state assets will be dispatched to assist them. The Town of Blandford is continuing its already posted search for a new Police Chief.

Later on Monday, the Blandford Police Department issued a statement on Facebook noting that local residents should continue phoning 911 in the event of an emergency.

The posting also referred residents to call the Massachusetts State Police for other police-related issues.

The posting read, “Attention Blandford residents: If you have a police, fire or medical emergency, please continue to call 911 as you normally would. Until further notice, please call the Russell State Police Barracks at 413-862-3312 if you need any other police services. The entire Blandford Police Department resigned this evening, effective immediately.”


Western Mass News – WGGB/WSHM

Anything else?

According to WWLP-TV, talk of Blandford combining its police force with neighboring Chester occurred just last week.

The outlet reported that the towns of Blandford and Chester held a joint selectboard meeting last week to discuss the creation of a regional police department.

According to WWLP, Cara Letendre, Blandford selectboard chair, said, “It looks like a lot of towns are having similar issues that we are having. So the discussion of merging different shared services came up and one of them that came up is police services and Chester had the same concern so we ended up meeting with them and we’re gonna go forward and see whether or not we decide to merge.”

via TheBlaze.com – Stories

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DEVASTATING VIDEO Shows WI GOP Senate Candidate Leah Vukmir “Holding Her Nose” Over Donald Trump

Video emerged this week of Wisconsin senatorial candidate Leah Vukmir holding her nose over Donald Trump. The anti-Trump politician also told a group of Never-Trump Republicans Trump was “repulsive to everyone.”

Leah Vukmir is hoping to win the GOP nomination for US senate against Republican Kevin Nicholson.

Via Breitbart.com:

A new video has emerged of Wisconsin U.S. Senate candidate Leah Vukmir holding her nose when describing how she and others would feel voting for then-likely GOP presidential nominee now President Donald Trump for president and saying that Trump is “offensive to everyone.”

Appearing with devout Never Trump leader Wisconsin radio host Charlie Sykes after her preferred candidates Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) dropped out of the race at a women’s roundtable, Vukmir launches into a minute-long tirade about Trump in this video.

The comments start at 8:29 into the video.

Right Women Roundtable at Charlie Sykes’s Insight March 23, 2016 from Gordon Lang on Vimeo.

The post DEVASTATING VIDEO Shows WI GOP Senate Candidate Leah Vukmir “Holding Her Nose” Over Donald Trump appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

via The Gateway Pundit

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DeSantis: ‘Easiest Way to Get a Microphone in Your Face’ Is to Bash Trump

Tuesday on Fox Business Network, Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) said while there were issues he disagreed with President Donald Trump on like farm subsidies, he preferred to discuss it with the president in person. DeSantis, said, “I don’t agree with anybody on everything 100% of the time. What I’ve typically done with the president is talk to him privately rather than go cow to you. The easiest way to get a microphone in your face in Washington is to bash the president if you are a Republican for CNN, and NBC and The New York Times. I don’t think that’s constructive. There are obviously things that I have disagreed. but you do it constructively and you try to move the ball forward as best you can.” He added, “One of them that we would probably agree with is I’m not a fan of farm subsidies. To throw billions of dollars in farm subsidies, I want to get away from doing that. So there’s just an honest disagreement. There are people in the Republican conference who we disagree with on those things. So it’s fine. But you agree with most of what’s going on. you just try to press forward as

via Breitbart News

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