Today I learned something that surprised me, not because of the event itself but because so few people have talked about it. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is known for being a leader of the socialist movement in Washington DC after rising from the humble status of bartender to the Congresswoman of the 14th district in New York. Her policies include a push for a “living wage” of $15 per hour. I’ve always thought the wording was odd considering Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and others have been calling for a rise in “minimum wage.” Today, I found out why she’s shying away from that phrase.

When New York City raised their minimum wage $15, many businesses were hit hard, especially in the hospitality industry. Restaurants and bars started cutting hours and often even closing their doors over the increase. One of those hit hard by the massive bump was The Coffee Shop. Owner Charles Milite blamed the closure on high costs, with the rise in minimum wage as the last straw.

“The rents are very high and now the minimum wage is going up and we have a huge number of employees,” he said.

The Coffee Shop is the bar where AOC once worked.

The restaurant I used to work at is closing its doors.

I swung by today to say hi one last time, and kid around with friends like old times.

I’m a normal, working person who chose to run for office, because I believe we can have a better future.

You can do it too. We all can. pic.twitter.com/WeNsFm4eTt

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 20, 2018

Keep in mind, this wasn’t some random bar. The Coffee Shop in Union Square was considered a high-end establishment, buzzing all the time with “A-list” patrons. It was featured many times in the HBO show Sex and the City and had built a reputation as an “it” spot for Manhattan residents and tourists alike. In other words, this wasn’t a hole in the wall hanging on by a string. It was a vibrant, successful business for almost three decades before New York City’s untenable leftist policies, including a $15 minimum wage, became more than the bar could bear.

On the surface, many voters may see the very basic math of “oh, Democrats want to pay me more” and assume there’s no repercussions for such actions. This is why Democrats prey on those people who currently make lower wages. They feel if they can promise them something that sounds good even if they know with 100% certainty based on empirical evidence that it will actually hurt them, these new socialists are willing to make that trade. They figure they can blame the conservatives later for why the place they were working at before cut their hours, removed their jobs, or shut down because of raising the minimum wage.

As usual, socialists rely on ignorance and emotion as the driving forces behind their plans. They’re not stupid. They know their ideas won’t work. But they’re willing to push them on people anyway in hopes that ignorance will keep them in power.

Will you help revive the American Conservative Movement?

Have you ever wondered why the Framers of the U.S. Constitution mandated that the President of the United States must be at least 35 years of age? Looking at this in historical perspective, we know that the average age in the United States today is around 78, whereas when the Constitution was written, it was about half that. Obviously, sturdy individuals would be needed who could outlive their expectancy.

In Hawaiian culture, kupuna are elders who have the life experience to be family and community leaders. This is the same concept that those who set America on course understood as vital to having leaders who actually know how to lead.

This is not to say that 77-year-old Bernie Sanders is qualified to be president, whereas 37-year-old Tulsi Gabbard is not. I would submit that neither embodies the American vision. Donald Trump is 72-years-old but lived a very different life from most of the rest of us, having been born into a wealthy family of privilege.

But life experience is an extremely urgent and essential factor in choosing leaders. Whereas I’m sure Barack Obama was actually born in Hawaii, his life experience growing up in Indonesia under foreign Islamic influence is at odds with the life experience we have favored in previous presidents.

So where do we go from here?

We can stay with the insomniac who tweets bizarrely in the middle of the night because wannabes vicariously see themselves in his place. Or, we can choose one among dozens from the other party who are ready to throw out the baby with the bath water.

Unless a conservative alternative emerges from among the masses to mount a primary challenge. That should actually be welcomed by the incumbent because it will enable an invigorated discussion of conservative visions of America. Otherwise we abandon the campaign to the other side which wants to tear down all that has been built over the centuries.

We can remember all the way back to Plymouth Rock and Jamestown. Or, on the other hand, we can elect somebody who doesn’t even remember Ronald Reagan.

As a baby boomer, when I was a youngster, I found it awkward that adults who had all lived through World War II ~ which was still an everyday topic back then ~ had life experiences that I could never share. So I asked them about it as well as studying it because I realized even as a child that it was important.

But that was in an age when even television was very new. When we finally got one, it was a small black and white picture with just a few local channels.

Today I see that parents often give even toddlers an elementary electronic device which they skillfully manipulate pictures around using their thumb or forefinger. In many ways, this is not the America in which I grew up.

Our next president needs to have a firm understanding of where we have been and where we are so he or she can lead us into where we must go. But, in this short-attention-span ersatz society, we are hard-pressed to find such a person of substance.

I herewith categorically deny that I am running for President of the United States. Having said that even though it’s obvious, let’s look at what has occurred during the 70 years that I’ve been here on Planet Earth.

In the 1950s, most of this country was still small-town America with only a handful of major metropolises. Today, that is often condescendingly referred to by self-centered politicians as flyover country. Large urban centers and suburban areas have a proportionately significant impact on elections. If Democrats succeed in eliminating the Electoral College, then the large geographic majority of our country that usually votes red, will be overwhelmed by a blue wave of pampered new voters.

Patriots from the American heartland remember the lessons of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, Watergate, American diplomats taken hostage in Tehran, Reagan ending the Cold War, Billy Bob and Monica, 9/11, Dubya deposing Saddam and leaving a vacuum, Obama fundamentally transforming America and The Art of the Deal taking control.

The so-called progressive, emerging urban core are ready to start from scratch, go back to square one and create a Banana Republic where election losers never accept the results of the vote. Once they create a new normal, they will never release their grasp on it.

Integrity is doing right because it is right regardless of what may be politically expedient. Just listen to what Democrats in Congress and on the political trail, many of whom are the same people, are saying now. They have zero concept of national sovereignty. The “we are the world and the world is us” attitude is not realistic. You have only to look at failed states and tyrannical regimes around the globe to see that borders serve an inalienable purpose.

Proposals of infanticide and racism by Democrat Governor of Virginia Ralph Northam have been swept successfully under the rug. But unfounded and politically-motivated character assassination of a Supreme Court nominee for accusations relating to his high school days led to a C-SPAN circus. The double standard has never been so blatant!

I have only recently concluded that term limits for Congress are necessary. If our elected representatives had integrity, that would not be necessary. But due to fallen human nature, power makes the man or woman. Perpetuating their own time in the sun is more important than acting objectively based upon substantive facts. Human frailty is also an important consideration.

I joined term-limit advocates while watching the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court. Former Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa is probably a very nice individual, though I don’t know him personally. But he was either unable or unwilling to control the Democrat sideshow. There is no way he should have been Judiciary Chairman.

We need citizens with life experience beyond the constraints of government employment who understand what most Americans go through in daily life. They will never find this in their ivory towers on Capitol Hill or anywhere in our nation’s capital.

I spent three years inside the DC Beltway working just a few blocks, but a million miles, from the White House. The history of Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and other states that have history from the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, was fascinating. That was 30 years ago when I was there, but I was ever so ready to get back to the real world.

Hawaii has its own unique set of circumstances which I have discussed before and will undoubtedly delve further into in the future. But right now, we’re looking at the future of our political system that will be involved in next year’s national election.

What can you or I as individual patriotic citizens do to make a positive difference? First, we need to sense the urgency of our mission.

You can watch a video here which includes Representative André Carson of Indiana declaring a plan for an Islamic America which is undoubtedly shared by new Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.

We better have a game plan to counteract this or it is our future. In Pakistan, the Islamic government purposely & deliberately makes life a hell on earth for Christians & all non-Muslims. Ask Asia Bibi! Is that the America we want?

NOQ Report is here to provide a conduit for objective facts to be conveyed both to decision-makers and to the voting public. We are crowdfunded and your support can make all the difference.

Let’s keep America America!

Will you help revive the American Conservative Movement?

Democrats aren’t going to know what to say in response to President Trump’s declaration today that the people should see Robert Mueller’s report on the 2016 Russian election hacking investigation. After nearly two years of getting leftists anxious about whether or not he would even allow the investigation to continue, news that he seems disinterested in the upcoming report to the Attorney General won’t jibe with the narrative they’ve been trying to sell.

The next Russia theory from the left will be that they have some dirt on Mueller, which is why his report won't implicate the President. https://t.co/moisCrft7r

— JD Rucker (@JDRucker) March 20, 2019

The President did poke fun at the idea of having a report in the first place.

“I have no idea when it’s going to be released,” the President said. “It’s interesting that a man gets appointed by a deputy, he writes a report, uh, you know, never figured that one out. Man gets appointed by a deputy, he writes a report.”

One consistent theme throughout this debacle has been the President’s claim that there was no collusion between him and the Russians. While it’s widely believed the Russians did participate in election “hacking” through social media accounts, online comments, and possibly participating in the hacking and releasing the DNC emails in conjunction with WikiLeaks, there’s no evidence the Trump campaign worked with them on any of these things. There’s also no indication it had any effect on the election results.

One of the alleged goals the Russians had was to sow discord between the opposing political sides. In this regard, the “hack” may have been very successful; it’s impossible to determine how the current state of extreme polarization came about or if Russia’s efforts are working. But one thing is certain. The way the Democrats and possibly even Mueller himself have handled the investigation have contributed to widening the divide between the two sides.

If the President isn’t scared of the report being made public, what are the Democrats going to whine about now? They were ready to pounce if Mueller got fired, which he didn’t. They were ready to pounce if the President blocked the report, which he won’t. Now, I suppose they’ll have to start a theory that Trump controlled Mueller the whole time.

Will you help revive the American Conservative Movement?