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If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Brendan Carr has been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to take on the role of Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) starting in January, marking a significant elevation for the senior Republican commissioner. Announced Sunday, the appointment highlights Trump’s emphasis on aligning leadership of the FCC with his administration’s deregulatory and free speech priorities. Carr, a key figure in the FCC since his nomination by Trump in 2017, has earned bipartisan recognition, having been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times. In his official statement, Trump praised Carr’s work ethic and leadership, describing him as “a warrior for Free Speech” and highlighting his efforts to dismantle regulatory hurdles that, according to Trump, have hindered innovation and economic growth. Trump celebrated his promotion, calling it well-deserved. “Lead us into a great future, Brendan!” the president-elect concluded. Expressing gratitude, Carr shared his reaction on X, describing the appointment as an honor and privilege. Though Carr has always championed online free speech, Carr has also drawn more attention recently for taking a strong stance against systemic censorship by major technology companies. In a letter addressed to the CEOs of Alphabet, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft, Carr demanded answers regarding their involvement in censorship activities over the past four years. Carr criticized these companies for allegedly contributing to an “unprecedented surge of censorship” in the United States, highlighting concerns raised by the Twitter Files and other revelations about media hall monitors like NewsGuard. Carr accused these entities of targeting some media outlets through tactics such as defunding and demonetization while granting higher credibility rankings to state-controlled outlets like those from China. He warned the tech leaders that the incoming administration, along with Congress, is likely to pursue sweeping measures to preserve free speech, including scrutinizing their partnerships with third-party groups engaged in suppression of speech. Carr’s appointment signals a shift in FCC priorities under Trump’s leadership, with a focus on loosening regulatory constraints, advancing rural broadband access, and reaffirming protections for free speech. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Brendan Carr Set To Take the Helm at FCC as Trump’s Free Speech Champion appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If any constitutional amendment can be hated, it would be the 16th Amendment. Passed by Congress in 1909 and ratified by the states in 1913, it allowed Congress to “levy income taxes without apportioning them among the states based on population.” At first the collection of revenue came from the very wealthy and in a small percentage, but World Wars I and II put the country in debt and Congress, using the power given to it by the 16th Amendment, began spreading the burden around until we arrived at our present moment when half the country and corporations are paying taxes (when state, local and other taxes are included, that amounts to more than half their income in states like California and New York). Half the people pay little or no federal income tax at all. President-elect Trump and Elon Musk, whom Trump has asked to reform our broken tax and spending system that has resulted in a $36 trillion debt, have a rare opportunity. With all three branches of government under Republican control, Trump and Musk should simultaneously address the debt, including the size and cost of government, and also the way we collect taxes. On that latter point, Trump and Musk might take another look at a proposal by magazine publisher Steve Forbes. He called it “the flat tax.” In 1996 and 2000 when he ran for president, Forbes published a detailed proposal for reforming the annoying, and for many incomprehensible, federal taxation system. At the heart of his plan was reconstructing Social Security while saving it for future generations. In an essay for Americans for Tax Reform, Forbes wrote that under his plan “the current Social Security benefits of every American 55 and older will be fully protected – no benefit cuts, no tax increases, no more raiding the Social Security Trust Fund.” At the time Democrats criticized the plan because it allowed people to put a small percentage of their income into the stock market, which they said was unreliable. Anyone checked the record high market lately? Younger workers would have freedom of choice (a phrase Democrats like when it comes to abortion, but oppose if it involves schools and the stock market). Workers could choose a new retirement system Forbes called Personal Retirement Accounts (PRAs). Under his calculation, in 1999, younger workers could deposit 4 percentage points of their Social Security taxes into their own PRAs and increased their contributions as follows: In 2003 – 5 percentage points. In 2004 – 6 percentage points. In 2005 – 7 percentage points. In 2006 – 8 percentage points. Forbes wrote that if his idea had been adopted, a single working mother who was 25 in 2000 and retires in 2040 could have earned a nest egg of $1.2 million in her PRA. She could then purchase an annuity that pays her $100,000 annually, nearly twice as much as she would receive under Social Security. A high school graduate who was 18 in 2000, Forbes wrote, and retires in 2040, would have a nest egg of $2 million. Among the reasons Democrats have refused to reform Social Security and Medicare, both of which are projected to become insolvent in the 2030s without reforms, is politics. If they solve the problem, they lose the issue. Trump and Musk should revisit the Forbes flat tax plan and update it as necessary while they have the power. Doing so would have a lasting and beneficial effect on every citizen. Congress has made many mistakes in the past and the 16th Amendment was among the biggest. A unified Republican government now has an opportunity to undo the damage if they have the nerve and can take the heat. Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America" (HumanixBooks).

The 2024 presidential election has left the media reeling and plunged into a period of self-doubt and introspection. But for a few fleeting moments on NBC’s Meet the Depressed, the media forgot that they got shellacked. Watch as the Regime journalists (including former Obama and Biden spokesmouth Jen Psaki and taxpayer-funded Amna Nawaz of PBS) on the show’s panel plot a pressure campaign against Republicans considering confirmation of President Elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks: NBC MEET THE PRESS 11/17/24 10:44 AM KRISTEN WELKER: Eugene, what about the tension between: yes, you have the ethical questions, but then also the questions about whether these folks, some of them, are- actually have the right experience for the roles that they're being picked for? EUGENE DANIELS: Yeah. To Jen's point: if Democrats can convince enough senators, Republican senators, on the issues and the policy prescriptions and whether or not these people have the management experience, that's probably a better lane for them to try to do this in. Right? Because you -- you are not going to see them -- we have seen from Republicans for a long time in the Senate and the House, is that you know, a lot of the tabloidy stuff doesn't bother them, right? And that has been key as Trump has run the Republican Party. So Democrats can do that. Talk to them behind closed doors and they have- they can do a pressure campaign, right? That’s a question we’ve been asking a lot of both House and Senate Democrats. Are you guys going to work on a pressure campaign, publicly… WELKER: Ooooooh. DANIELS:  …to convince some of these senators to do the thing that they're saying behind closed doors that they already want to do? JEN PSAKI: And need to pick one. This is the hardest thing for Democrats. DANIELS: Exactly. We have to pick- we can't do all of them. AMNA NAWAZ: And the public-private thing is important too, because the vote to make Senator Thume Majority Leader was a private vote. They will have to publicly defend votes for the nominees. Politico’s Eugene Daniels sounds almost fanciful as he imagines a pressure campaign against Trump’s picks that is predicated on technocratic arguments. None of these people made those arguments against Pete Buttigieg taking over the Department of Transportation despite his lack of related experience. Much of that time was instead spent hailing his nomination as “historic”. Likewise Xavier Becerra taking over the Department of Health and Human Services despite having no healthcare experience outside of maintaining Kamala Harris’s persecution of opponents of Planned Parenthood. The most telling part of the exchange? When Psaki interjects to caution the panel that they should “pick one” Trump nominee to pick off via the pressure campaign, followed by Daniels’ agreement that “we can’t do all of them.” A literal Alynskyite (13th Rule for Radicals) strategy session, live on NBC air.  This exchange may lead reasonable individuals to imagine that there is zero daylight between Democrat communications types and their pals in the media. There certainly can’t be, when they feel comfortable laying out a pressure campaign against Republican Cabinet nominees on the air. Some corners of the media may be going through an introspection period. But not all corners. Certainly not NBC on this day, as they provide us with a clear example of what the great Rush Limbaugh described when he talked about the Regime Media.

PBS’s weekly political roundtable Washington Week with the Atlantic gathered for the second time since Donald Trump’s reelection and showed revulsion to his proposed cabinet picks. Particularly put out was veteran liberal New York Times Washington Bureau Chief Elisabeth Bumiller, who used aggressively antagonistic language to describe two picks. It's a "rogues' gallery," including Tulsi Gabbard, a "girlfriend" of the Russians. The dictionary defines "rogues' gallery" as "a collection of pictures of persons arrested as criminals." Which of the cabinet picks are criminals?  Moderator Jeffrey Goldberg set the slanted stage up with this poison-pill encapsulation of Trump’s first few nominees. Jeffrey Goldberg: Donald Trump names a vaccine denier to head the Health and Human Services Department. For attorney general, he picks a person who most likely wouldn’t be able to pass an FBI background check. And he has nominated as Director of National Intelligence an apologist for Vladimir Putin….Elizabeth, let me start with you. If you could just frame this out for us, these nominations, especially Matt Gaetz, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Tulsi Gabbard, what does this telling you about both Trump’s mindset and the direction, the policy direction of the incoming administration? Bumiller didn’t miss her chance to pile on. Elizabeth Bumiller: Well, the policy direction is confused and chaotic. His mindset is just to -- you know, it’s shock and awe, but mostly shock. Some people say it’s trolling Washington. She admitted things “started out somewhat normal this week” when Trump named Sen. Marco Rubio to head up the State Department and Rep. Michael Waltz as National Security Adviser. BUMILLER: But then we got to the revenge of the Deep State, the three agencies that, that gave [Trump] the most trouble when he was president the first time -- the military, the intelligence agencies, and the Justice Department. the three agencies that, that gave him [Trump] the most trouble when he was president the first time -- the military, the intelligence agencies, and the Justice Department. And he put people in those jobs, Matt Gaetz, who is, by the count of many many Republicans in the Senate, completely unqualified, Tulsi Gabbard in charge of the intelligence agencies, she is a favorite of the Russians. They call her “my girlfriend’ on Russian TV. And then for the Defense, we have Pete Hegseth, who was convicted of military crimes and then pardoned by Trump. So, it's a rogues' gallery. Who said Hegseth was "convicted of crimes"?? Hegseth did convince Trump to pardon several servicemen convicted of military crimes. How sloppy are these reporters?   Then, Mark Leibovich of The Atlantic dismissed all the picks: "These are people to sort of paraphrase what someone once said about Jesse Jackson, these are mostly people who have never run anything but their mouth." That's a strange insult coming from journalists. Then he mocked Gov. Kristi Noem because she's only run South Dakota. Actually, these people couldn't figure out which Dakota she governed. PBS: Where the educated reporters talk?

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Happy Sunday everyone! As we like to do each week, I’ve got a great Gospel Message for you this Sunday, and I’m so happy to announce that Pastor Robb Goodman is back with us this week. From Pastor…