What a great country we live in, but who would know?
Half of our elected members of Congress get up every day to tell us what is wrong with our country. And the other half isn’t telling us what is right with it.
The biggest newspapers (which are far from as big as they used to be) are headlining the daily disaster. Television networks like CNN, MS NOW, ABC, NBC and CBS (which may or may not be taking baby steps to test the middle of the road) are 24-7 downers. You can’t even get a positive America-the-beautiful halftime show at the Super Bowl. AM Radio may be the closest thing to positive, conservative, promotion of this great country. Roger Ailes’ Fox News is gone. It once was a patriotic network. Now it seems too timid to be true Red, White and Blue through and through.
Trump is trying to make America great again, but heck, it’s already the greatest nation on earth. With all its excrescencies the United States of America offers the greatest hope for anyone to enjoy a safe, prosperous, fulfilling life. It’s the home field of freedom. It’s the land of plenty.
But, did you hear any of that anywhere this week?
When I was in high school decades ago, a sitting U.S. Senator visited our school and the principal called an assembly of every student in the auditorium. The U.S. Senator, Jennings Randolph, a dyed in the wool Democrat representing West Virginia (a state that for years was locked up to the Democrats of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and mineworkers’ union leader John L. Lewis) spent what seemed like an hour or more telling us what a great country we lived in. How we all had endless opportunity to make something of ourselves, if we worked hard and obeyed the laws. I left there a more patriotic person who thanked God for letting me be born here.
Who is telling our children that today? We are just a few months away from our country’s 250th birthday, and it seems as though nobody cares. It is, and should be, a really big deal.
Now Get This…
Our own government doesn’t seem willing to tell us how good we have it.
The Census Bureau tells us that about 11 percent of our population, or about 39 million people, live at or below the poverty level. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., took exception to that, saying the American people are the most generous in the world and as a result, only about 1 percent of the population is below the poverty level. To be there, they really have to try.
Sen. Kennedy says the federal government spends $1.4 TRILLION a year to keep people above the poverty line.
He used a mom with two kids as an example. She needs $27,000 a year to not be classified as below the poverty line, but she only makes $11,000 a year. The senator pointed out that she can get $3,400 in refundable tax credits, $9,200 in food stamps, $9,500 in housing allowance, $900 in utility subsidies, $16,000 in Medicaid Insurance, $3,100 in school lunches and $6,000 dollars from other government programs.
Kennedy says that gives her access to more than $60,000 in wages and benefits each year.
In a Senate hearing, he asked Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick “Does that sound like she’s living in poverty?”
He said, no, it doesn’t.
Kennedy said he doesn’t want take any of those benefits away from that little family, but “Can’t we just give a little credit” to the generosity of the American people for taking care of a lot of people.
He argued that the government, ie. the census bureau, does not count non-cash payments when determining the poverty level. Meanwhile, people who earn enough to be above the poverty line have to use their own money to buy food, housing, health care, pay for utilities and school lunches. The playing field may not be exactly level. The government subsidies may tip the scale to the lower income people.
Here’s A Secret From the Swamp:
Government needs to portray itself as always being needed. A high percentage of people below the poverty level is needed to keep the increased funding flowing. Bureaucrats in the deep state need to justify their jobs. If 1% of the population is all there is below the poverty level, then there’s probably more than one bureaucrat for each poor family — hence a $38.8 TRILLION national debt that is growing, and growing, and growing,.
What a country! Ninety-nine percent of the people are in families or themselves have resources, from their own work and/or government subsidy, to live above the poverty standard. Sen. Kennedy says we willingly spend that money on people who, if in many other countries, “would just be left to die in a ditch.”
What a country! Did you hear that anywhere else this week?
The Daily Disaster…
We are complaining that gasoline prices have gone up. I don’t like it, but I think the benefit of having crippled the world’s largest sponsor of terrorism is a pretty good tradeoff. America will be safer if Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.
Folks, this, too, will pass. Let’s wake up and smell the coffee and the roses. We are living in blessed times. Life can’t be, and will never be, a full-time bed of roses. There are thorns in life, even in a bed of roses.
But let’s be grateful for another day of freedom, another day of plenty, another day of living in a wonderful place. A bad day in America is better than a good day in a lot of countries. If you don’t understand that, you just need to travel more.
Are We Flipping Minority Status?
Since the year 2000, the turn of the century, the U.S. population of “minorities” has increased from 30 percent to over 42 percent which calculates to a 40 percent increase in the last 25 years.
Over 40 percent of the population identifies as a racial or ethnic minority.
The political gerrymandering, clothed as minority dominant Congressional districts, has resulted in at least 120 districts set up in such a manner as to ensure the election of representatives from the predominant '‘minorities”.
It’s working perfectly for the racial diversity for which the system, rightly or wrongly, was designed.
The 119th Congress (2025-2026) has record-breaking levels of racial and ethnic diversity with 139 voting members identifying as Black, Hispanic, Asian American or Native American. African Americans hold more than 60 seats and Hispanics hold more than 50 seats.
Thirty-two percent of the 435 seats are held by minorities. If they are shooting for equivalent representation, they should hold 42 percent of the 435 seats, or 182.7 seats.
Our founding fathers, brilliant as they were, never considered one day we would choosing our legislators based on race or ethnicity.
The Young Are “Majority-Minority”
Over 52 percent of the population today is under the age of 18, meaning the minority children are already a “majority-minority.” According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Brookings Institution project the U.S. will become “minority white” around 2040.
So when will minority-secure Congressional Districts go away? When will we start electing our representatives based on their political ideology, their competence, their honesty, their veracity and their dedication to preserving and protecting America and its Constitution, rather than the color of their skin or their ethnicity? Or, will we need to have districts established for white minorities.
Shameful Public Servants…
It’s not a well-kept secret that we have some real characters in
Congress and some of them are there because they have a minority district that gives them a smooth road to the Capitol.
Here are some superstars these minority districts have given us:
Jasmine Crockett, Texas District 30, who gave us a large dose of political insanity. She became so enamored with herself she thought she should be a Senator instead of a back-row Congresswoman. She just lost the Democrat primary in a statewide race and will be out of elected office at the beginning of 2027.
James Clyburn, South Carolina District 6, who gave us four years of Joe Biden.
Maxine Waters, California District 43, who gave us direction to attack conservatives if you see them in restaurants.
Ilhan Omar, Minnesota District 5, representing the district with the highest number of immigrants of any district in Minnesota, She is a queen of the Somalis in scandal-ridden Minnesota.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York District 14, a district with roughly 70% people of color. She came to Congress from her bartending career.
Hakeem Jeffries, New York District 8, who has risen from a minority district to the most powerful man in the House of Representatives.
Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Florida District 20, who allegedly collected $6 million for her company in COVID-related overpayments, with funds potentially transferred to her campaign.
Rep. Al Green, Texas District 09, who was censured by the House of Representatives for disrupting a President Trump State of the Union Address. He pulled a similar stunt this year, but he lost his primary recently, as wells. He’s going to have to find a new Green deal.
Rep.Jesus “Chuy” Gardia, Illinois District 4, who was censured in November 2025 for “election maneuvers.” When he retired he did it in a manner that timely allowed his chief of staff, Patty Garcia (no known relation), to become the only Democrat on the ballot for the seat. She will face weak opposition from an unknown Republican and candidates from minor parties in the November election.
Yes, The Hogwash Report is aware — we have some doozies representing competitive House districts, too. Minorities do not have a corner on the crazy market.
We guess that just confirms that there really isn’t a need for minority districts.
Some districts, especially in California, New York and Illinois have lines drawn to contain the most possible voters with Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Thanks for reading. This post would be much more interesting if you would post a comment. Let’s try for 15 comments this week. You don’t have to agree with me. I’ll select a some of the best comments to be in The Hogwash Report 119.0 which will be enlightening — I assure you.
Or you could just buy me a cup of coffee here for $5. No takers last week. I’ll blame that on the higher gasoline prices.
Very well done. Just part of the DEI scam. The SAVE ACT will be the hill they die on, assuming there's enough courage to make them tell us why they don't want it, when 83%+ of the country does. Texas sidelined Jazzie and Big Al-that's a start.
Inspiring article, Charles. Thank you. Looking back at the history of the government of the US it strikes me that the only thing different about the clowns and jokers that pepper our government today and those who filled that role one hundred years ago is the instant communications every person carries on their belt. The Star Trek communicator we all carry allows the "news" of the most recent case of foot-in-mouth disease to go viral when in the past few would hear or know of it.
People will be people. The good, the bad, and the politicians. I believe it was ever so.
And I love living in this country.