Transgender issues have been in the news quite a bit this week, from debates over so-called “bathroom bills” to ESPN’s firing of former big league pitcher and baseball analysts Curt Schilling over his criticism of transgender activists. The Daily Signal points out that ESPN should have the right to not associate with Schilling’s message – but shouldn’t that same right be extended to religious individuals? 

Saying that the new push for open bathrooms is political correctness in overdrive, Ted Cruz wants to know, “Have we gone stark raving mad?” 

And Rush Limbaugh thinks liberals want to eliminate the very idea of morality. 

Target is facing a backlash over its very liberal transgender restroom policy, and some are pointing out that such policies have already put women and young girls at risk. 

What do you think about this controversial issue? I’ve made it the topic of our new Weekly Poll, and I hope you will give your opinions.

Meanwhile, it’s looking more and more like Trump vs. Hillary this November. 

Is it possible that the Republican convention could be rigged – in favor of Trump? 

Trump is taking heat for going along with the transgender attack on women’s restrooms, for supporting tax increases, and for seeking to water down the Republican Party’s platform plank against abortion. 

Let’s see if he can win points with conservatives with the list of potential Supreme Court nominees he’s promising. 

Here in New York, we can expect to see more of this type of hypocrisy as our $15 minimum wage kicks in – and get ready for stories like this, reported by the Daily Signal, of small businesses being ruined by this “progressive” plan.

Have a great weekend!

Mr. President, have you seen what this “JV” team is doing lately?  On Monday, United States President Barack Obama said that he expects Mosul to be retaken from ISIS “eventually.”  Seems to me that this “JV” team is at varsity level and you are still in denial. 

A word of advice to President Obama and whomever follows:  Let’s protect what we have before we waste any more taxpayers dollars in failed solar issues. 

While we are talking about wasting taxpayer’s money, the $3071 spent on this, hardly registers in the federal budget.  However, multiply every minute waste of money and soon you are talking about real tax dollars that we work very hard for.

The Tax Foundation gives us a handy chart as to what the state and local individual income tax collections per capita are.  Alas, this is not the chart you want to be number 1 on, yet New York State is number 1. 

As we noted yesterday, the NY Post questions how the handpicked successor to Sheldon Silver is going to clean up Albany. 

Politico is still writing about Mayor de Blasio’s problems. 

Governor Cuomo is poised to kill more upstate jobs.

Finally, this has been a long time coming.

The American Conservative Union released the 2015 Ratings of Congress and the US Senate.   Congressman Collins scored the highest with a 65% while 12 Democrats scored ZERO.  Both Senators Schumer and Gillibrand also scored ZERO.

Former Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey has some advice for the GOP on how to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Ruth Marcus, a columnist for the Washington Post, opines on this: This election is an unpopularity contest for the ages

Six times in the history of the United States, Americans have chosen a New Yorker as their president.  Will 2016 be the seventh?  The odds are quite good since at this time, it looks more and more like both candidates will be a resident of New York State. 

This is an election year that is rewriting political science.  In the 9th Senate District, the person who voted for Shelly Silver to be Speaker — convicted of corruption — and for Carl Heastie to be Speaker — currently being investigated — appears to be rewarded with a Senate Seat.  Meanwhile the hand picked candidate– by Silver’s loyalists — for Silver’s Assembly Seat Alice Cancel easily won.  These are the people who may write ethics rules for themselves and their fellow legislators.  Do you think they will include term limits?  No Pension if convicted? Or continue the ambiguous ones currently in place.  Look where they come from, the answer is obvious.

You’ve Got a Friend is one of Carol King’s biggest hits;  Governor Cuomo must really like it as he is singing it to organized labor lately. 

This is undoubtedly one of the most disturbing articles we have posted to date; but it is necessary to do so.  Despite what Hillary said, an unborn child is a human being and an abortedchild must not be sold for spare body parts. 

The Fourth Circuit Federal Court is becoming as radical as the Ninth.  If this Daily Signal post does not point out the consequences of a far left president appointing judges for life, life in America is almost past the brink of profound constitutional changes.

Wednesday’s with Walter E. Williams.

The AP is reporting more bad news on Obamacare — UnitedHealth, the nation’s biggest health insurer, will cut its participation in public health insurance exchanges to only a handful of states next year after expanding to nearly three dozen for this year.  Read more here.

The Daily Signal recaps the latest case to be heard by the equally divided US Supreme Court. The Justices listened to the oral arguments in a case brought by Texas and 25 other states challenging the Obama administration’s attempt to give legal status and work authorizations to more than four million illegal immigrants.   The Hill also reviews the arguments before the Court and believed that the Administration may not win.

The Empire Center examines what is driving the K-12 school costs increase.

Are we heading for another recession?  According to Investor’s Business Daily, the signs are there that we are.  USA Today is reporting that defaults are at the highest level since 2009, another bad sign.

New York has the second highest foreclosure rate.  

The Sun opines on the possibility of a super high tax on guns, first reported by Americans for Tax Reform and disclosed on Drudge Report.  While the editorial becomes a little far-fetched, it does provide food for thought.

Tuesday’s with Thomas Sowell.

Mayor de Blasio is probably questioning why he agreed to do a TV show on Channel 4 in New York City. 

Last week Hillary celebrated the first anniversary of her campaign, National Review condenses that year here.  Are the Clinton’s tied to the Panama Papers, many of their friends are. 

Michael Goodwin’s Sunday column in the NY Post makes the case for NOT voting for Hillary.  In part “As The New York Times documented, and as Sanders has emphasized, Clinton’s regime-change strategy for Libya was a colossal failure that created a humanitarian disaster and a terrorist base.”  Read the rest of what he has to say here.

The Daily Caller also reports on how Hillary repays her supporters.  And this was done when Secretary of State, just think of what she can (and will) do if president with every federal agency under her control. 

All millennials — especially those who support Bernie — must read this.   And Bernie needs a reminder in economics.  Here is a good article for him to read so he will understand why promising “free college” is a bad idea.  And this is for all Bernie supporters:  this is what you paycheck will look like under a Sander’s Administration.

Sharon Kehnemui has a great article on Fox News explaining how important it is to know history — a concept millennials and younger students are not being taught.

Now that your taxes have been filed, read this to find out where they are going.  Federal spending is obviously out of control and whomever is elected in 2016 will have to make the right decisions to protect our Republic.  Does anyone believe Bernie or Hillary are capable of doing that — if so, you are not paying attention to what they are saying.  The Republic is in our hands.  Sharon Kehnemui’s opinion piece is a good reminder to all.   

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio makes a racially insensitive joke that would have most politicians resigning in disgrace, Hillary Clinton throws him under the bus, and the media elites tell us it’s really not a big deal. This is your Democratic Party, folks. 

The Mayor’s had a rough week – from the corruption probe that may be turning into a web of lies and to the off-color joke, to his role as the “bad guy” in New York’s primary campaign… and his job approval ratings are tanking.

What do you think about Mayor de Blasio – is he making our state look bad? Do you think he’s getting a free pass by the media for a joke that would get most politicians in deep trouble? Are you surprised by new allegations of corruption during his campaign? 

Vote today in our new Weekly Poll. 

In presidential politics, the New York Post has endorsed Donald Trump, while the Washington Free Beacon wants to know what John Kasich thinks he’s accomplishing by staying in the race. (Fun fact: Kasich currently has fewer delegates than Marco Rubio, who is no longer a candidate.)

The Democratic debate was a brawl, with Hillary blasting Bernie and Bernie mocking Hillary – or, as John Podhoretz puts it, “just old people yelling.” 

Meanwhile the upstate job slump continues – and this is before Andrew Cuomo’s $15-an-hour minimum wage kicks in. Workers will continue to suffer under this new mandate, but unions will reap the benefits.

Will Canada’s new push for “assisted suicide” be the model for New York? The culture of death is indeed flourishing, though Jonah Goldberg notes that in the battle over abortion there’s a truth that liberals can’t deny, but try to desperately.

Here’s the state of our world: America is this close to war with Russia, North Korea continues its missile push and our country is literally being invaded thanks to lax immigration laws and border security. 

But the baseball season is in full swing, spring is here, and it’s shaping up to be a beautiful weekend. Have a great one!

This is a shameful lack of common sense.  It is things like this — Department of Education bungles — that allowed a grade-fixing principal to be reinstated, it is no wonder parents are clamoring to place their children in charter schools.

Bye-Bye Richard Emery, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Hmm, I wonder if this is included in the $1 Trillion tax increase Hillary will need for all her promises.

Hillary, please explain your hypocrisy on equal pay. Carrie Lukas opines in the NY Post on the same issue.  

Yates and Genesee Counties also have problems with the unfunded mandate to increase the salary of their District Attorney.

New York should follow Maine’s successful welfare reform to save taxpayers and encourage the American Dream. 

The Empire Center notes that incentives encourage Medicaid patients to choose well.

Re. Michel Faulkner wants to know where is the people’s champion.

Mr. President, can’t you get your Iranian friends to grant these Members of Congress a waiver.  By the way, everyone, but you, knew you couldn’t. 

The rapidly changing electronics world means rapidly changing laws.  Look for this case to end up in the US Supreme Court.  

Former defensive lineman for the NY Jets, Rev. Michael Faulkner, thinks the Hill and Bill (the Mayor, not her husband) “joke” was insensitive at the very least.  Here is the rest of what he said “On the Record.”

After that debacle, Hillary (and Bernie this time) are off in Fantasyland according to this NY Post editorial. 

A young officer was stripped of his gun, badge and paycheck just for speaking ill of the Mayor.  The officer puts his life on the line every day, speaks his mind in a non-threatening way against the Mayor and is suspended for that?  Will the “you can’t speak your mind police” start suspending others on the force. Maybe the Mayor should be suspended for his “joke”.  

Mayor de Blasio is in a place I’m sure he would rather not be…the sights of US Attorney Preet Bharara…who is not limiting his investigations to only the Mayor. 

A new book, The Closing of the Liberal Mind: How Groupthink and Intolerance Define the Left,” explains how we are losing our right to speak freely and our constitutional rights as well. 

The Daily Signal writes about the hypocrisy of Disney...and how large corporations are stripping us of our freedoms.

The Rockefeller Institute has a new report out on casino gambling.  The Albany Times Union sums it up with this headline: Gambling tax revenues are not a safe bet.  The Conservative Party knew that long before the report was considered.   

Why Obama is forgiving the student loans of nearly 400,000 people, total amount of debt if everyone takes the disability discharge (and why wouldn’t they since no proof is required), $7.7 billion will be forgiven, for them, not taxpayers.

Hillary admits her proposals have a $1 trillion price tag over a ten-year period. 

Seriously. people, where do you think this money is coming from?  Or don’t you care as long as you are elected. 

Campaign Lies, a bonus Thomas Sowell column.

Wednesday’s with Walter E. Williams.

USA Today has a very harsh Op-Ed against the Attorney Generals who are conspiring to end free speech.  Read it here.  Maybe the reason the AG’s are trying to crack down on dissenters, is because more studies rebut the causes.

Kudos to the supervisors in Livingston County for trying to defy another state mandate that costs taxpayers.  And it isn’t only Livingston County that is faced with the mandated increases by the NYS Legislative Commission on Legislative, Judicial and Executive Compensation. If you check out short biographies of the commissioners, you can rest assured that they will always see a need to increase compensation.  If the commissioners were elected by the public and not appointed by those seeking increases, taxpayers may have a better chance of seeing their hard earned income being given to others, assuming they are still living in New York State. 

Longtime political reporter, John Gizzi, interviews Chairman Mike Long on the current presidential race and where the Conservative Party stands on the candidates.

Jonathan M. Bydlak, President of the Coalition to Reduce Spending, has a website, here, that is dedicated to advocating for reducing federal spending and balancing the budget.  You can take an active role by suggesting a candidate who will support Reduce the Debt Pledge or a candidate that needs to be held accountable to the Reduce the Debt Pledge.  Check it out here.

Sen. Mike Lee writes in the Daily Signal how Washington’s Bureaucracy Strikes Again.

Ryan T. Anderson, also writing in the Daily Signal, on liberal hypocrisy, has the quintessential question for liberals who choose to boycott Mississippi and North Carolina:  Bruce Springsteen and Bryan Adams Get to Follow Their Consciences, but the Baker and Florist Don’t?  Read his column here.

The Media Research Center shows how the major media outlets discriminate on the bills signed in Mississippi and North Carolina.

The price of admission to de Blasio’s “One New York”

Pat Buchanan continues to make the case for Trump.

While Tuesdays with Thomas Sowell continues to make the case against Trump.

According to the NY Post, Mayor de Blasio insisted on Sunday that he knows nothing about the investigation that has made headlines since Friday.  Is anyone surprised at his response?  Politico New York has more on the Mayor’s mess.  Politico also reports that according to the minutes taken at the June 24, 2015 meeting of the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services, (the meeting was sparsely attended) that no one spoke against deed restriction change that allowed a health care facility on Manhattan’s Lower East Side to become a luxury condo development, another controversial subject the Mayor in embroiled in.  Over the weekend, Michael Goodwin wrote about how de Blasio’s lust for power will be his final downfall.  Sometimes you do not need a crystal ball to tell the future. 

Did Gov. Cuomo’s need to micromanage everything, lead to the resignation of the head of the State Police?

Governor Cuomo loves to grandstand.

So do the AG’s united for clean power.

More than 20,000 students have applied for the 3,228 available spots — in New York City — according to data from the network of charter schools.

What would you think of a company that had no employees or assets, in fact, it seems to exist only to collect and hide large checks to a former president from foreign backers and Wall Street donors?  And it was not disclosed by a certain woman running for president.  Read more about WJC, LLC here.  Then there is this — where WJC, LLC’s physical address is, and another company of interest, ZFS Holdings, LLC. 

President Obama may have said “no influence in Clinton email probe” but all I heard was his influence.

One thing is certain, New York matters for the first time in a long time this primary season and it may very well matter until November 8.

Carly Fiorina, a breath of fresh air, in the rough and tumble world of politics. 

The old saying goes that even a broken clock is right twice a day, and Bill Clinton hit one of the them yesterday when he took on the Black Lives Matter movement.  The strain of the primary season is apparent with his outburst and certainly with Hillary’s meltdowns.  The Investor’s Business Daily has this to say about Hillary’s melting.  Few expected Bernie to be such a thorn in the coronation process, certainly not Hill and Bill, but he is, and the democratic primary is heating up and getting personal.  Even after Bernie dismissed Hillary’s problems with her emails and server, which will become front and center between her and the eventual republican winner. 

Grover Norquist writes about the 6 new voting blocks that won’t want Hillary in the White House, which also helps explain why the Democrats are worried that the Sanders/Clinton rhetoric risks a White House win. 

Charles Krauthammer says in today’s column that the “coming train wreck” on the republican side makes one think that the candidates are trying to lose the general election in November.

What do you think about the primary season?  Let us know in our weekly poll.

Townhall.com reports that Environmental International has a new report about hydrofracking and is disappointed that the fears of “fracking” seem to be unfounded.  The report is too late for New Yorker’s since we have a Governor who caved to the alarmist who believed a non-scientific documentary.

The NY Post is reporting how the shortened background check — from 12 to 18 months to just 3 months – is letting Syrian refugees into America to reach President Obama’s goal of 10,000 by September, the floor number, clearly not the ceiling.

Corruption in the NYPD is being handled by Commissioner Bill Bratton swiftly with the dismissal of the targets, unlike Mayor Bill de Blasio who believes he is above the law.

On the bright side, baseball is back, which means a summer lull from all the political bickering will be a welcomed relief.  Have a great weekend. 

Chairman Long on the upcoming April 19 Presidential Primary.

Mayor de Blasio has some explaining to do says the NY Post and the NY Daily News.

This is very disturbing. The fact that a US Attorney General kept the public in the dark about Iranian hackers until after President Obama had his Iranian Deal, is more than disturbing. One has to ask what other investigations will be manipulated for the benefit of President Obama?  Hillary’s rolls in myriad issues?

The Daily Signal exposes the good side of trade agreements.

US vows to block new Russian arms sales to Iran.  How, President Obama?  Will you draw a red line and tell Russia the arms cannot go past the red line?  Mr. President:  YOU gave Iran the money to make the deal with Russia.  Putin will laugh all the way to the bank.

Townhall’s Katie Pavlich sums up Fox News’ weekend special featuring President Obama’s former Defense Secretaries in one word:  Brutal.

Governor Cuomo:  This is courage.  Banning non-essential travel is so juvenile.

File this under:  Competition Works.

Emmett Tyrrell exposes the changes the Obama Administration is making in your neighborhood under the radar. 

Did you know that President Ronald Reagan had a connection to Merle Haggard?  Some of Haggard’s best music came after Reagan gave him a second chance.