Recently, under this state of emergency, President Biden announced a new unprecedented vaccine-related mandate that has the potential to impact up to 80 million workers in the United States. The first part of the mandate requires all federal employees to receive a Covid-19 vaccine. The second part requires all employers with more than 100 employees to ensure their organizations are fully vaccinated (or, any employee that remains unvaccinated, must produce a weekly negative test result before reporting to work). With each new Covid-19-related mandate, the overreach of government and ensuing impact on US citizens grows in intensity and implication. And, as each mandate from the President, a Governor, or a government institution is introduced, more and more people are asking if mandates are legally enforceable. Afterall, mandates aren’t laws, are they?

While it’s true that mandates are not laws in the sense that they have been introduced, debated, and passed by the legislative branch of the US Government; they are still legally enforceable, provided they meet a few specific criteria:

• They are instituted during a declared state of emergency
• The agency (or individual) instituting the mandate has jurisdiction to do so (for example, the CDC was able to issue the recent eviction moratorium because it was argued that displacing people during a pandemic would lead to more wide-spread exposure of Covid-19…they would likely not have similar authority to issue a mandate in response to a terror attack)
• The mandate is over when the state of emergency is over
• The mandate does not violate the Constitution of the United States of America

While the citizenry may not like a mandate, we must keep in mind that, once issued, compliance is expected and enforceable by law enforcement or the agency granted the power. When one of these measures appears to violate our civil rights, or the Constitution, the way to fight them is through legal channels. And, while it may seem appropriate to sue an employer for carrying out the order, the best way to challenge the order is to make your voice heard to your State Representative.

(A note about Executive Orders may be necessary as well, since much ado has been made about them since the beginning of the Trump Administration. An Executive Order is a directive from a President (or Governor) that manages the operation of governmental agencies. Like a mandate, it is not a law in the sense that it is not passed by a vote from Congress. Unlike a mandate, they can be written by the President at any time and will last until they are countermanded by another President).

Traditionally, the issuance of states of emergency have been largely regional (a hurricane in Florida does not necessitate a state of emergency in California), and short lived. Most often, state Governors will declare a state of emergency in light of a natural disaster, which helps release funds to help rebuild critical infrastructure, mobilizes FEMA, and makes it easier for various emergency agencies to quickly cut through red-tape in order to help. And, when the flood waters have dispersed, or the fire is under control, the state of emergency (and any related mandate) is brought to an end. In these cases, the constitutionality of mandates issued under states of emergency rarely come under scrutiny. But when a state of emergency lingers, and mandates become more prolific, the potential of governmental overreach increases at an alarming rate.

In the 1920s, a researcher named Theodore Erismann tested the brain’s ability to rewire visual input by strapping a pair of goggles to his colleagues head. In essence, these goggles turned his colleague’s vision upside down. At first, his colleague stumbled and fell as he struggled to position himself in a foreign world. But after ten days of slowly acclimatizing to the change of input, the subject no longer struggled to navigate his way through the day. His brain had gone through the process of reorienting how it processed the upside down information from his eyes. But, the fact still remained that he was seeing the world wrong because of the artificial lenses he was using. The world had not changed, his perception of it had.

As the current national state of emergency keeps getting extended, we must stand vigilant to ensure we don’t find ourselves as frogs in a pot as the water inches toward boiling as more and more mandates are imposed. Afterall, the laws of our nation were never intended to be issued by any single person (President or not) and were certainly not meant to be enacted by bureaucratic agencies. The exercise for laws to be debated, studied, voted on, and passed by a majority of both the House and the Senate is one of the processes that has kept America from slipping back into the type of monarchy from which our forefathers fought so hard to escape.

The system of Legislative, Executive, and Judicial checks and balances instituted by our Founding Fathers is still the system under which our nation operates. There is no “Except for Covid-19” provision in the Constitution. We must ensure we do not let this seemingly endless state of emergency flip our understanding of the constitution, or our acceptance of mandates which have not been fully vetted. If we don’t, we will inevitably see a day when a steady stream of crises serve to give unfettered power to those who may seek to exploit it. Afterall, isn’t it common knowledge that a leader, especially in politics, should never let a good crisis go to waste?

The post Emergency: The 51st State appeared first on Todd McMurtry.

When considering these issues, we must resist the urge to entertain well-rehearsed and overly
simplistic sound bites from popular figures. Rather, we should consider the freedoms that
citizens possess, which are protected by our Bill of Rights. Our founders, having won
independence at a terrible cost, were students of history and knew the only way to ensure that
our freedom remained intact was to limit the power of government over the people. In fact, the
first two amendments in the US Bill of Rights are aimed directly at keeping government at bay
when it comes to our freedom of speech, and our ability to protect ourselves:

Amendment I:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of
the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of
grievances.
Amendment II:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the
people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

While the language may feel outdated, and certain pundits may think these principles no longer
apply to our society, it is difficult to overstate just how liberating and progressive these words
actually were, and still are. We need look no further than certain contemporary East Asian, or
Latin American countries to see that corrupt and tyrannical governments rule their citizenry by
controlling the media, limiting worship, and disarming their populace. It is no coincidence that
the Founding Fathers reserved the number one and two amendments to stipulate two of the
most important principles for individual and corporate freedoms. Their prominence is key, as is
the sequencing – without one, the other falls. And contrary to the recent remarks of President
Biden, without the right to bear arms, the governed are in danger of having their freedom of
speech infringed. And once free speech is gone, we are no better than the thirteen colonies
before they clawed their way out from under the thumb of the British Monarchy. But what about the everyday application of the Second Amendment? Is there still a need to
carry a firearm day in and day out? We have firearm-free zones, designed to make us safer.
We’re much more civilized than we were in the Wild West, which means our crime rate shouldn’t
justify the need to carry self-defense tools. And our police have faster vehicles, better training,
and various non-lethal ways of subduing the rare occurrence of crime. Right?

Tuning to any news station, regardless of political leaning, will quickly reveal those questions
moot and naive. In fact, the converse is true. It’s been widely documented that mass shooters
target gun-free zones at a much higher rate than any other public space. The cities with the
strictest gun laws, sadly tend to have more violent crimes than towns that allow their citizens to
carry, either through permits or “Constitutional Carry”. And, with budgets being cut from police
departments across the country, when seconds matter, most police officers are minutes away.
Unfortunately, in spite of our modern technology, ubiquitous conveniences, refined psychological
theories, and fervent political ideologies, it’s more evident than ever that the same dangers of
government overreach and violent criminals which our Founding Fathers faced are the same
staring back at us today. Even more troubling is that many special interests and government
officials are pushing harder than ever to take away the very protections which allowed this
country to grow into the prosperous land we enjoy today.

FEMA’s own website acknowledges that in a crisis situation such as a mass attack, there will
likely be a time when running and hiding is not enough. At that point, they recommend a plan
called Defend, Disrupt, Fight. In this stage, FEMA advises to, “ambush the attacker with
makeshift weapons like chairs, fire extinguishers, scissors, books, etc.”. Sound advice for a law-abiding citizen in a gun-free zone, or who has had their Second Amendment Right taken from
them. For the 21 states that have implemented “Constitutional Carry”, however, the scene would
no doubt look different. In fact, would-be attackers are more likely to think twice before carrying
out crimes, be them on a macro or micro scale if they’re more likely to meet resistance from
citizens armed not only with firearms but the confidence of a strong Second Amendment.

The post When Seconds Count appeared first on Todd McMurtry.

• Lowest Inflation Rate in 50 Years
• Lowest Unemployment Rate (Job Available for Every American)
• Lowest Unemployment Rates for Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and Women
• Women’s Unemployment Rate at a 65 Year Low
• Highest Employment Rate in History for Non-High School Graduates (Particularly Black Males)
• Youth Unemployment Rate at a 50 Year Low
• Highest Job Creation Rate in History
• Record Number of People off Unemployment
• Record Number of People Off Food Stamps
• 10 Million People Off Welfare
• Lowest Interest Rates
• Lowest Poverty Rate Since 1959
• Lowest Poverty Rates for African- Americans and Hispanics-Americans Since US Began Data Collection
• Trump Signed Welfare Reform Act Requiring Able-Bodied Adults that Don’t have Children to Work and Not Collect Welfare
• Increased Home Ownership of 5% / Equal to Highest Home Ownership EVER
• Approved and Passed the Keystone Pipeline
• Approved and Passed the Dakota Pipeline
• Made Agreement Favorable to the US with Saudi Arabia Regarding the Oil Reserves
• After Two Years in Office US surpassed Russia and Saudi Arabia as World’s Largest Oil Producer America Totally Energy Independent – First Time Ever (Lowest Gas Prices)
• Made the United States a Natural Gas Exporter for the first time since 1957.
• Cleanest Air and Drinking Water in 40 Years Trump’s USDA committed $124,000,000.00 to rebuild Rural Water Infrastructure.
• One TRILLION Trees Forum (Planted)
• Lowest Carbon Emissions in 30 Years (Better After Leaving Paris Climate Accord)
• With the United States Paying Most of Funds and Getting No Benefit and China Paying NOTHING, Trump Pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement and Appropriated Money for US Environment
• Largest Tax Cuts in History (Average American $5,000.00 Per Year)
• New Child Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – Doubled Maximum Amount of Child Tax Credit Available to Parents and Lifted Income Limits so that More Could Claim Deduction
• Created New Tax Credit for Dependents Other Than Children
• In 2018 Trump Signed into Law 2.4 Billion Funding Increase for Child Care and Development Fund, Providing a Total Amount of 8.1 Billion to States to Fund Child Care for Low Income Families. The CDCTC Provides a Tax Credit Equal to 20-35% of Child Care Expenses, $3,000. Per Child and $6,000. Per Family with Flexible Spending Accounts to Set Aside up to $5,000. In Pre-Tax Dollars.
• In 2019, Trump Signed the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Supports Act (CARES) Into Law. This allocates 1.8 Billion in funding over the next five years to help those with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their Families.
• In 2019, Trump signed into law two funding packages providing nearly 19 Million Dollars in new funding for LUPUS Specific Research and LUPUS Educational Programs, as well as an additional 41.7 Billion in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the most LUPUS Funding EVER.
• Trump signed the first major Anti-robocall Law called the TRACED Act (Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence) The TRACED Act will extend the period of time the FCC has to catch and punish those who intentionally break telemarketing restrictions. The bill also requires Voice Service Providers to develop a framework to verify calls are legitimate before they reach you.
• Trump Signed Tax Bill Giving Small Businesses Lowest Top Marginal Tax Rate in 80 Years
• Record Number of Regulations Eliminated that Obstructed Numerous Businesses
• Median Household Income Highest in History
• Low Wage Workers Benefiting from Corporations Increasing Entry Level Pay
• Gain of 12,000 New Factories Created Under Trump’s Leadership, After Losing 60,000 Factories Under the Obama / Biden Administration
• Brought Back More Than 400,000 Manufacturing Jobs in Coal, Steel, and Natural Gas While in Office (Fastest Rate of Increase in 30 Years)
• Signed TCJ Act Brought back over a Trillion Dollars to the United States from Companies Overseas
• Record Stock Market
• Paid Family Leave for Government Employees
• Paternal Leave for Couples Making Less Than $72,000. Per Year
• Signed Bill (Native Americans) Compensation to Spokane Tribe for Loss of Land Mid 1900’s
• Native American Language Program Funding
• Federal Recognition for Chippewa Indians in Montana
• Signed a Law to Make Cruelty to Animals a Felony
• Signed a Bill to Make CBD and Hemp Legal
• Approved EPA Funding to Give $100,000,000.00 to fix the Water Infrastructure in Flint, Michigan
• Signed Gag Order Preventing Pharmacies from Not Sharing Money Saving Information to Patrons
• Signed Bill (FOSTA) Fight On-line Sex Trafficking Act (SESTA) Stop Enabling -Gives Victims New Tools
• Trump ACTeam Initiative – Doubled Convictions of Human Traffickers and Increased Those Charged By 75% in ACTeam Districts
• Dismantled Organization Responsible for Prostitution and Human Sex Trafficking
• Trump’s DOJ Provided Grants to Organizations Supporting Victims (9,000 in One Year)
• Department of Homeland Security Hired More Victim Assistance Specialists Providing Resources
• Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Arrested 1,588 Trafficking Criminals
• Department of Health and Human Services Provided Funding for a National Trafficking Hotline (This Hotline Identified 16,862 Potential Human Trafficking Cases)
• Signed Bill Requiring Airports to Provide Space for Breastfeeding Moms
• Signed Biggest Wilderness Protection and Conservation Bill Designating 375,000 acres as Protected
• Signed Save Our Seas Act – Funds $10,000,000.00 Per Year to Clean Plastic and Garbage from Ocean
• Pulled Out of the World Health Organization, after the WHO gave the United States incorrect information and supported lies coming out of China. This saved the United States Taxpayers 3.5 Billion Dollars.
• Bill That Allows Drug Imports from Canada for Prescription Prices to Go Down
• Executive Order Forces Health Care Providers to Disclose Costs for Comparison Costs
• Signed Law Ending Gag Orders (Pharmacists) Preventing them from sharing money saving information to the public
• Initiated “Right to Try” Medications for the Terminally Ill
• Signed the Most Comprehensive Childhood Cancer Legislation Ever Into Law -Advances Childhood Cancer Research and Improves Treatment
• Hospitals Now Required to Post Standard Charges and Discounted Price
• Prescription Drug Prices Increased an Average of 3.6% per Year Under Obama, Under Trump they have Declined Each Year to Historic Lows (Check Council of Economic Advisors) Not Media Opinion
• Trump approved more Affordable Generic Drugs than ever before in history.
• Reformed Medicare to stop hospitals from overcharging low income seniors on their medication, saving seniors hundreds of millions of dollars in one year alone.
• Secured 6 Billion Dollars in new funding to fight the Opioid Epidemic
• Signed Legislation to Improve National Suicide Hotline
• Created VA Hotline for Veterans Staffed with Veterans and Their Family Members
• Signed Funding Allocating Money for Programs Preventing Veteran Suicide
• VA Employees Held Accountable (4,000 Removed, Suspended, or Demoted)
• Revamped Entire Veteran’s Administration with Veteran Choice
• Made Available to Veterans- Telehealth Services, Walk-In Clinic Services, Same Day Urgent and Primary Health Care, and Same Day Mental Health Care
• Issued Executive Order Requiring Secretary of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs to Submit a Joint Plan to Provide Access to Mental Health Treatment
• Bill for Federal Employee Pay Increase Averaging 3.1% (Largest Raise in 10 Years)
• Signed Law Giving 12 Weeks of Paid Parental Leave for Millions of Federal Workers
• TRUMP Administration Will Provide HIV Prevention Drugs FREE to 200,000 Uninsured for 11 Years
• All Time Highest Record – Holiday Spending (2019)
• Small Business Paycheck Protection Program
• Order Allowing Small Businesses to Group Together When Buying Insurance for Better Pricing
• Trump signed the Preventing Maternal Deaths Act providing funding for states to review maternal complications and identify solutions to reduce mortality rates for Black women.
• First Step Act – Criminal Justice Bill (This makes our justice system fairer and helps former inmates successfully return to society. It expanded judicial discretion in sentencing of non-violet crimes. The First Step Act addresses inequalities in sentencing law that disproportionately harmed Black Americans. 90% of those benefitting from the retroactive sentence reductions are Black Americans.
• Invested Over 10 Billion Dollars in Opportunity Zones for Distressed Communities, with a Projected Plan to Invest 47.2 Billion Total (8,764 Communities Already Identified)
• Provides Rehabilitative Programs to inmates helping them successfully Rejoin Society
• Received Bipartisan Justice Award at Historically Black College for Reform Accomplishments
• Promoting Second Chance Hiring – Gives Former Inmates Better Chances of Employment
• Launched Board of Prisons “Ready to Work Initiative” – Connecting Employers
• President Trump signed a bill that creates five national monuments, expands several national parks, adds 1.3 million acres of wilderness, and permanently reauthorizes the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
• Trump Appointed 5 Openly Gay Ambassadors (Anti-Discrimination)
• Trump placed Ric Grenell, openly gay Ambassador to Germany, to lead the global initiative to decriminalize homosexuality across the globe.
• Trump increased funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) by more than 14%.
• Trump created and prioritized an HBCU Executive Director of the White House initiative for HBCUs.
• Trump signed legislation forgiving Hurricane Katrina debt that threatened HBCUs.
• Trump Created the Prison Reform Act
• Created PLATUIM PLAN – Opportunity and Fairness for Black Americans
• Created Hispanic Prosperity Initiative Giving Hispanics Educational and Economic Opportunities
• New Single-Family Home Sales up from October 2018 to 2019 Comparing Just One Year at 31.6%.
• Appointed 300 Qualified Judges after Obama left 142 Openings when he left office.
• Appointed 3 Supreme Court Justices
• Made Trade Deals with China where all excess proceeds went to our farmers. (12 Billion)
• Imposed Tariffs on China in Response to Forced Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Theft
• Breakthrough Agreement with European Union to Increase U.S. Exports
• Creation of Space Force (Sixth Military Branch)
• Initiated Focus on Reviving the NASA Space Program
• Increased Boarder Security by building 400 miles of new boarder wall. (Goal is 500 Miles)
• Agreement with Mexico to stop caravans by Mexico guarding the boarder.
• Rebuilt and Refunded our Military
• Deregulation of thousands of loopholes in Government that held up progress and saved billions.
• Tariffs Implemented to Change Unfair Trade Deals
• Moved the Capital of Israel to Jerusalem (As Promised)
• Initiated the first PEACE DEAL in history in the Middle East (Israel, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain) (More countries are currently joining this effort.)
• Recognized and Established the Plateau of Golan Heights as part of Israel not Syria.
• Pulled Troops out of Afghanistan
• NO WARS During the TRUMP Presidency
• Dismantled most of the Territory Controlled by ISIS.
• Took Out Al Baghdadi – Islamic (Iraqi) Leader that Executed Hundreds of American Soldiers
• Ordered Attack on Soleimani -Iranian General (Islamic Revolutionary)
• Rescued 55 Hostages from Various Countries Around the World
• Trump was Nominated – By Three Separate Countries for the Noble Peace Prize (Three Separate Accomplishments)
• Ended the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and Initiated the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) which has saved our country billions of dollars.
• Pulled Out of the Iran Nuclear Deal After Obama Sent 1.7 Billion Dollars On Pallets in the Middle of the Night – US had no proof that they had stopped production of nuclear weapons.
• Violent Crime Has Risen in Every Democratic Run State, while it has Declined in Republican States (For Every Riot, Trump offered Democrat Mayors and Governors Access to National Guard to Stop the Problem. All declined any help and allowed the rioting to continue.)
• Provided School Choice Legislation so that No Child is Trapped in a Failing School- Funding 42 Million
• Trump Signed First Perkins CTE Reauthorization since 2006 Giving a Billion Dollars for States Each Year to Fund Vocational and Career Education Programs
• Executive Order Expanding Apprenticeship Opportunities for Students and Workers
• Ended Common Core
• Executive Order Prohibiting the United States Government from Discriminating Against Christians or Punishing Expressions of Faith
• Signed Executive Order Allowing Government to Withhold Money from College Campuses that are deemed to be Anti-Semitic or Those Who Fail to Address Such Discrimination
• Trump Ordered Halt to US Tax Money Going to International Organizations Funding Abortions
• Trump Imposed Sanctions on Socialists in Venezuela Who Have Killed Their Own Citizens
• Finalized New Trade Agreement with South Korea
• Trump Made Agreement with the European Union to Increase US Energy Exports to Europe
• Withdrew from Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Detrimental to American Jobs
• Secured 12 Billion in New Trade from Vietnam.
• Trump’s Pressure Campaign – Almost ALL Allies to NATO Increased Defense Spending
• Signed Music Modernization Act – Biggest Change to Copyright Laws in Decades
• Signed 911 Victim Compensation Fund into Law (Continued Support for 911 Victims)
• Greatest Supporter of OUR  POLICE and FIREFIGHTERS
• Since the Pandemic Hit – Unemployment 14.7% in April – It has now gone down to 6.9%
• Economic Growth Since Pandemic Hit – Highest Gain History 33.1%
• Beginning of Pandemic Immediate Shut Down of People Entering the United States from China / Asia and Europe (Called Prejudice and Xenophobic as a Result)
• Turned Thousands of Factories into Producers of Personal Protective Equipment and Ventilators (No Stockpile from Previous Administrations) Shared Stockpile with the World
• Provided PPE to Hospitals Around the Country
• Project WARP SPEED – FASTEST VACCINE CREATED  in HISTORY
• President TRUMP Never Collected His Salary While in Office (Approximately 2 Million Dollars)

What are you thankful for?

The post My Aunt Vanessa’s list of Trump’s Wins to Be Thankful For appeared first on Todd McMurtry.