A little “fuck you” to conservatives from the Trumpmeister:

And I’m a conservative, but don’t forget, this is called the Republican Party. It’s not called the Conservative Party.

He’s right, you know. Well, not about the part where he said he’s a conservative. That part is a lie. But the other part, the part where he talked about the name of the Republican party? He’s right about that.

And, you know, it got me thinking.

What if there were a party called the “Conservative Party”?

Guess what? It turns out there is! Technically, the name is the “American Conservative Party.”

I don’t really know much about them. But I went to their Web site, and read through this document, which is their statement of principles.

And I’ll be damned if I can find anything in there that I disagree with. Here is the beginning, to give you a taste:

The American Conservative Party represents a brand of Conservatism that we believe best reflects the true and noble intentions of our Founders, which in turn reflected the conclusions of thousands of years of human civilization.

We strongly believe in the freedoms and liberties ingrained in our founding documents; and we support the Constitution as it is written–to protect, among other things, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to petition the government, and the right to keep and bear arms.

American Conservatism stands for small, limited government at every level. It stands strongly for individual responsibility and a civil society where individuals take on duties to take care of their own communities, and where Government is the resource of last resort.

Taxes should be levied for the sole purpose of financing the limited responsibilities of government such as providing for the common defense, apprehending and incarcerating criminals, and adjudicating legal disputes. No taxes should be levied [for] redistribution of wealth.

These ideals were first laid out in the form of our Creed and have served as the cornerstone of our agenda since our founding in 2008. As a Party driven by Principles, we offer this document to effectively expound on those ideals and lay down a framework for a return to limited, enumerated, and federalist government in the United States.

Amen. Right?

I don’t know what I think about the idea of a third party. I am not thrilled with the libertarian candidates. Gary Johnson would force bakers to make cakes whether they agree with the message or not. Austin Petersen has rubbed me the wrong way when I heard him on a podcast. There are other minor parties — like the Conservative Party USA (CP-USA, not to be confused with CPUSA, the Communist Party of the USA), which endorsed Ted Cruz but had some warm things to say about Trump. Pass! There’s the Constitution Party, which seems a little bigger than some of the other minor parties, but I’m not sure I buy into the whole paleoconservative movement, which strikes me as kind of wacky.

The American Conservative Party is clearly not a major force in U.S. politics. Their organization appears to be somewhere between zero and, well, zero. But I do recommend you read their statement of principles. It’s pretty damned well thought out.

And, unlike the Republican Party, they do have “Conservative” in their name. So there’s that!

Americans face a clear choice this November, between a candidate who may have committed charity fraud, and . . . another candidate who may have also committed charity fraud.

Via redc1c4 comes a link to a shocking report that suggests — hold on to your hats, folks, because this one is going to floor you — that something might not be quite on the up and up with the Clinton Foundation:

The Wall Street analyst who uncovered financial discrepancies at General Electric before its stock crashed in 2008 claims the Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation has a number of irregularities in its tax records and could be violating state laws.

Charles Ortel, a longtime financial adviser, said he has spent the past 15 months digging into the Clinton Foundation’s public records, federal and state-level tax filings, and donor disclosures. That includes records from the foundation’s many offshoots—including the Clinton Health Access Initiative and the Clinton Global Initiative—as well as its foreign subsidiaries.

According to Ortel’s reports, the contribution disclosures from the Clinton Foundation don’t match up with individual donors’ records. He also argued that the foundation is not in compliance with some state laws regarding fundraising registration, disclosure requirements, and auditing rules.

The linked article is worth reading in full. This guy is no joke, and his concerns sound like they have a solid basis.

Meanwhile, Trump still can’t account for about half of the money he supposedly raised for veterans — you remember, his little stunt where he was avoiding tough questions from Megyn Kelly in a debate?

So, voters, you’re going to have to choose. Do you really want to let the presidency go the candidate who might be engaged in charity fraud? Or will you instead cast your vote for the other candidate — you know, the one who, um, also might be engaged in charity fraud.

IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION OF OUR LIFETIMEZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

[guest post by Dana]

Happy Mother’s Day from the usual suspects:

–Dana

[guest post by Dana]

This is an instructive illustration of the scripture that reminds us that the man who can be trusted in the small things is also the one who can be trusted in the big things, but the man who is dishonest in the small things, even things like alleged conversations, is also the man bound to be dishonest in the big things.

About Marco Rubio, Trump claims to have had recent conversations with the senator, and about Paul Ryan, Trump claims that the speaker called him to offer congratulations on his win in New York several weeks ago. Except neither claim is true. Exactly how does a presumptive nominee who freely continues to make stuff up, benefit the American people? And although his loyal supporters don’t yet see it, if he does become our next president, they too will eventually be personally and adversely impacted by this specific character deficiency because the fallout will not be selective.

Let it be a reminder that while facts are indeed a stubborn thing and should matter, they no longer do to a great many people. Not even in the smallest things.

–Dana

We have a clear choice in November: a candidate who will raise taxes on the wealthy, or a candidate who will raise taxes on the wealthy:

This Week host George Stephanopoulos asked Trump if he wanted taxes to go up or down on the rich, despite them going down in his proposed tax plan.

“They will go up a little bit, and they may go up—” Trump started.

“But they’re going down in your plan,” Stephanopoulos said.

“No, no, in my plan, they’re going down, but by the time it’s negotiated, they’ll go up,” Trump said. “When I’m negotiating with the Democrats, I’m putting in a plan. I’m putting in my optimum plan. It’s going to be negotiated, George. It’s not going to stay there. They’re not going to say, ‘There’s your plan, let’s approve it.’ They’re going to say, ‘Let’s see what we can do.’ It’ll be a negotiation.”

Donald Trump is an experienced negotiator who knows that showing your opponent your hand before you sit down to negotiate always results in the very best deals. That I can tell you. Tipping your hand right at the beginning is so smart, believe me. So smart.

Trunp’s low-information and low-income base will eat this up, because fundamentally they are resentful class warriors just like the Bernie crowd. The rhetoric of making the fat cats pay their fair share will sound peachy to them.

It will never occur to them that the “wealthy” people whom Trump will tax into oblivion will be the small businessmen and entrepreneurs who work their asses off and provide the jobs in this country. There is no free lunch; every dollar the government is a dollar an entrepreneur now cannot use to expand his or her business. That means fewer jobs.

And when the jobs disappear, because of this taxation, they’ll blame CHI-NAH!!!1! And then we’ll get those job-crushing 45% tariffs. Everyone’s standard of living will lower as they pay more for basic goods. The dollar will devalue as foreigners flee our currency under Trump, who has talked about keeping entitlements at unsustainable levels, and short-changing bondholders to deal with the resulting crushing debt. That will also cause interest rates on U.S. bonds to rise, meaning an ever-increasing chunk of the national debt will be interest payments.

We’ll probably get that crash I have been warning you about sooner rather than later under a President Trump. And nothing beats a nationalist with a xenophobic cult following being in charge when a giant inflationary crash occurs. As history shows, those scenarios always turn out great.

Best part is, this time the cult leader has nukes, and an itchy (if stubby) trigger finger motivated primarily by personal slights rather than the national interest.

Man, I can’t wait.