Author: Matt Margolis

Suggested Reading

Matt Margolis

From the creators of Margolis & Cox Editorial Cartoons, Oh, the Places You Can’t Go! is a lighthearted parody to ease your coronavirus lockdown blues.

Some books inspire you about the possibilities that life will offer you. In that case, Dr. Seuss’s seminal book, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! is perfect. This is not that book. In the spring of 2020, life changed in a way that it never had before. A country that was once booming suddenly had to shut down in order to contain the coronavirus pandemic and “flatten the curve.”

From destinations afar to your neighbor’s backyard, suddenly you weren’t going anywhere. Oh, the Places You Can’t Go! brings it all home in this humorous collection of verses and illustrations that examine the lifestyle changes that we’ve all had to endure during the lockdown to help turn your frown upside-down and remind us that we’re all in this together.

A Few Things About the Immigration Executive Order

Matt Margolis29 Comments

Naturally, if Trump does something, liberals find some reason to express their faux outrage. I know I haven’t blogged here much–or at all–lately, but I thought I’d just compile some important information for everyone to consider before jumping to conclusions, and of course, to highlight the hypocrisy of those who claim to be outraged.

The list of countries covered by the executive order came from Obama

Contrary to claims that the countries covered were determined by which countries Trump has or doesn’t have business interests, the list actually comes from the Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015, which was signed by Obama.

The Executive Order allows for exemptions

All you have to do is read it.

(e) Notwithstanding the temporary suspension imposed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security may jointly determine to admit individuals to the United States as refugees on a case-by-case basis, in their discretion, but only so long as they determine that the admission of such individuals as refugees is in the national interest — including when the person is a religious minority in his country of nationality facing religious persecution, when admitting the person would enable the United States to conform its conduct to a preexisting international agreement, or when the person is already in transit and denying admission would cause undue hardship — and it would not pose a risk to the security or welfare of the United States.

The president has the authority to restrict travel

For those people who think the Executive Order exceeded presidential authority, they should read 8 U.S. Code § 1182 – Inadmissible aliens. 

(f)Suspension of entry or imposition of restrictions by President

Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate. Whenever the Attorney General finds that a commercial airline has failed to comply with regulations of the Attorney General relating to requirements of airlines for the detection of fraudulent documents used by passengers traveling to the United States (including the training of personnel in such detection), the Attorney General may suspend the entry of some or all aliens transported to the United States by such airline.

Every President since Carter has restricted travel from certain groups of immigrants

Alex Pfieffer at The Daily Caller goes into detail about what each president did with that authority, so give it a read.

 Obama “banned” Iraqi refugees for six months in 2011

ABC News reported back in 2013, “the State Department stopped processing Iraq refugees for six months in 2011, federal officials told ABC News – even for many who had heroically helped U.S. forces as interpreters and intelligence assets.” Does anyone recall outrage about this? Me neither. The action was clearly rooted in a legitimate security concern that was determined to outweigh other considerations.

As it is written, it is not supposed to cover current green-card holders

David French, hardly a Trump supporter, explains at National Review “The plain language of the order doesn’t apply to legal permanent residents of the U.S., and green-card holders have been through round after round of vetting and security checks.” Either the EO is being improperly implemented, or somehow, the Trump Administration is interpreting the EO differently. Regardless, I completely agree that green-card holders should not be targeted by the EO, and if they are, deliberately, or accidentally, it is wrong and needs to be remedied.

On that note, French’s piece as whole is worth reading.

The Worst President in History: Three Months Later

Matt Margolis3 Comments

3dbookIt has now been three months since Mark and I first made our book, The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama, available for pre-order. Since then, it has sold well. Really well, actually. Better than we expected. Almost immediately it was featured as a “Hot New Release” in the ‘Biographies of U.S. Presidents’ category… the category, in which, it would eventually become a #1 Best Seller. As of this post, the book is still in the top five of the category. Not too shabby!

Every day I wonder, “is this going to be the day it all ends?” And yet, three months later, it continues to sell. This won’t last forever, of course.  But it’s a great feeling while it lasts.

Thanks to all our readers who have bought the book! And to those who haven’t yet, thanks in advance for when you do!

Scandal-Plagued Harry Reid is Retiring!

Matt Margolis1 Comment

Many of us have been waiting a long time for this to happen… Today it was announced that Senator Harry Reid will not seek reelection!

Senator Harry Reid, the tough tactician who has led Senate Democrats since 2005, will not seek re-election next year, bringing an end to a three-decade congressional career that culminated with his push of President Obama’s ambitious agenda against fierce Republican resistance.

Mr. Reid, 75, who suffered serious eye and facial injuries in a Jan. 1 exercise accident at his Las Vegas home, said he had been contemplating retiring from the Senate for months. He said his decision was not attributable either to the accident or to his demotion to minority leader after Democrats lost the majority in November’s midterm elections.

What the New York Times article fails to mention is that Harry Reid has been implicated in a number of scandals recently, including a bribery scandal out of Utah, a “green energy” subsidy scandal, and the EB-5 Visa scandal. Of course, Harry Reid has a long history of corruption, which you can read about in our short ebook, The Audacity of Harry Reid.

Reid’s departure from the Senate also makes his seat a potential Republican pickup.

How Liberal Is Obama?

Matt Margolis64 Comments

Anyone who is familiar with Obama’s record the past 5 years knows he’s a partisan liberal. Obama claims not to be ideological, but then again, he said we could keep our insurance plans if we liked them.

A piece today from the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza looks at the question on how liberal Obama is, looking at analyses of both his absurdly short time in the U.S. Senate, and his horrible failure tenure in the White House.

The analysis of Obama’s presidential record comes from VoteView, a website you’ve never heard of, and probably won’t ever look at again. It comes this bizarre conclusion about Obama:

We find that President Obama is the most ideologically moderate Democratic president in the post-war period, with a first dimension DW-NOMINATE Common Space score of -0.329. President Lyndon Johnson, the second-most moderate Democratic president in this period, has a score of -0.345. President Obama’s ideological position is estimated from his “votes” (statements of support or opposition) on 282 congressional roll call votes. This amount is somewhat low; for example, President George W. Bush “voted” 453 times during his last term in office. However, it is adequate to recover his latent ideological score.

The following graph paints a visual picture of the ideological bents of each president since Truman:

presidential_square_waveSo, according to this analysis, we have to believe the following:

  • That Obama is more moderate than the tax-cutting, anti-Communist, strong on defense, “Ask not what your country can do for you,” JFK.
  • That Obama is more moderate than Bill Clinton, who actually worked with Republicans, even signed the balanced budget the Republican Congress passed.
  • That George W. Bush was actually more conservative than Ronald Reagan.
  • That Democrat presidents have remained roughly consistent ideologically, while Republican presidents have generally become more partisan

Yes, you would have to believe all of those things to swallow Voteview’s analysis. It would be easier for an adult to believe in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. I’m not really sure why there’s such a strong effort to paint Obama as a more moderate than he really is in spite of his real record.

I’m reminded of an oft repeated claim by liberal Democrats that Obamacare, as it is, is in fact, a conservative alternative to a truly left-wing single-payer healthcare system. Would they have similarly argued that Bush’s tax cuts were the liberal alternative to the bigger tax cuts signed by John F. Kennedy? I would highly doubt that.

Obama’s Obamacare Mandate Delay

Matt Margolis18 Comments

So, let’s momentarily forget the fact Obama’s “fix” for Obamacare is essentially exempting folks from it for a year, I’d like to point out a tweet from Senator Harry Reid:

According to Harry Reid, this move by Obama (the legality of which is questionable) is “working to fix and improve” Obamacare.

Really? Last month, when Republicans offered the exact same proposal as a compromise to end the shutdown, Obama and Reid refused, and chose not to negotiate.

150 Reasons Why Barack Obama is The Worst President In History

Matt Margolis123 Comments

How will history remember Barack Obama?

With all the failures of Barack Obama’s presidency, it’s impossible to remember them all. Mark and I have compiled everything you need to know about the presidency of Barack Obama (so far) into one book. Now you can easily find all the information that was ignored by the media, and forgotten during the 2012 election.

worst_cover

Did Barack Obama really save this country from another Great Depression? Did he really improve our country’s image around the world, or unite America? What about the new era of post-partisanship and government transparency? Did he really expand health coverage while lowering costs and cutting taxes?

150 Reasons Why Barack Obama is The Worst President in History exposes the truth about his presidency, and documents the facts that will shape his legacy: His real record on the economy; the ugly truths about Obamacare; his shocking abuses of taxpayer dollars; his bitterly divisive style of governing; his shameless usurping of the Constitution; his scandals and cover ups; his policy failures at home and abroad; the unprecedented expansion of government power.

All of these facts are now at your fingertips in a single source. 150 Reasons Why Barack Obama is The Worst President in History is your ultimate guide Obama’s real record. Not the record touted by Obama on the campaign trail, or in Obama Administration talking points, but everything they’d like you to forget.

150 Reasons Why Barack Obama is The Worst President in History is available in paperback, and as Kindle eBook.