In the Age of Trump, where Trumpservatism has replaced conservatism within the Republican party, many of those once heralded for their “strident” defense of conservative values have come out of the closet — politically speaking — to publicly admit their same-politics attraction to the Far-Left.

One such “conservative” is Gutless On Principles Hall of Shame enshrinee, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT).

Over the past two years, Lee has developed a political infatuation with Ivanka Trump’s socialist feminist agenda and has worked to advance many of the same policies promoted by Hillary Clinton during her 2016 campaign.

Lee, along with Marco Rubio, were same-politics partners with Daddy’s precious to “help” working families by using so-called tax reform to increase their dependency on the federal government via the tax code.

Thank you @IvankaTrump for leading the fight for real working family tax relief! https://t.co/O9otb88Mf5

— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) October 31, 2017

A few months ago (Nov 2018), Lee was same-politics partners with Ivanka and Van Jones — yes, THAT Van Jones — to promote and eventually pass the First-Step Act, a law that Conservative Review’s Daniel Horowitz said gave drug traffickers and gun felons early release from prison, emasculated police and prosecutors, and made America less safe.

This brings us to Lee’s most recent out-of-the-closet moment.

In his 2018 State of the Union, Trump pushed a big-government agenda even Barack Obama would love, and his wish-list of progressive priorities included Hillary’s and Ivanka’s paid family leave. Following the SOTU, Lee, Rubio and Ivanka engaged in another political affaire de coeur to create a so-called “budget neutral” scheme that would allow individuals to borrow from their future Social Security benefits in order to take several paid weeks off work for the birth or adoption of a child.

Though temporarily put on the back burner until after the 2018 mid-terms, Trump again promoted paid family leave in his recent SOTU. And just as before, Mike Lee got to work to make it happen, this time with a new same-politics partner, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA).

Known as the CRADLE Act (Child Rearing and Development Leave Empowerment Act), Lee and Ernst have proposed a plan that will allow America to “catch up with other countries” by creating a cradle-to-grave welfare state sure to bring a smile to Ivanka’s face.

.@SenJoniErnst & @SenMikeLee are unveiling a new proposal for paid family leave.

The "Cradle Act" would allow new parents to use Social Security savings to pay for time off after birth/adoption. Users would then delay their retirement to pay the money back.

📺 Only @CBS Wed. pic.twitter.com/2r5hsSF6a8

— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) March 12, 2019

Conservatives know that creating a new entitlement is a bad idea for a host of reasons. But when you add the U.S. debt crisis, the unfunded liabilities of $123 trillion dollars and growing already on the books for entitlements, and the fact that Social Security is projected to be bankrupt in 15 years, Lee’s socialist-friendly proposal is epitome of out-of-control big government.

Mike Lee has officially come out of the closet to declare his same-politics attraction to the Far-Left. Meanwhile, the search for a “straight” conservative in Washington continues.

Originally posted on StridentConservative.com.

David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative. His daily radio commentary is distributed by the Salem Radio Network and is heard on stations across America.

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Will you help revive the American Conservative Movement?

These are two questions with three answers. Odd, I know, but hear me out.

The President has the power to declare a national emergency at the border. The powers are wide-reaching, limited to the President’s discretion, and enforceable by the executive branch. So the answer to the first question is, “Yes.”

Should he have this power? Yes and no. Therein lies the two answers to the one question. Let’s break them down.

Yes, he should have the power to declare a national emergency with nearly no limits. The reason for this is simple: an emergency is an emergency and it’s imperative that someone, in this case the President, has the full authority to respond to that emergency as he or she sees fit.

The part where things get murky is in how that emergency declaration is used following the initial emergency reaction. Currently, a national emergency can last forever until it’s declared to be no longer an emergency. This is where the real overreach of the executive branch comes into play.

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) proposed a path forward that should have been in place decades ago. It displays more common sense than anything coming out of Washington DC in a long time. Unfortunately, both the Democrats and the President are against the proposal.

In essence, Lee wants the President to retain full powers over declaring national emergencies while putting the power of extending national emergency declarations in the hands of Congress. It’s the best of both worlds: a nimble an responsive executive power checked by a prolonged legislative power. The President declares it while Congress extends it. This makes sense.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats are against it because they don’t want to give Republicans cover, or so they claim. This is a lie. The real reason they don’t want it to happen is because they want national emergency declaration powers in the hands of a future Democratic president.

As for President Trump, he doesn’t want any of his powers restricted. Even though Lee’s proposal would have safeguarded building the wall, it would have prevented the President from using this same power in the future without Congress involved. That, he did not want.

It’s important for discernment in situations like this. NOQ Report remains crowdfunded, relying on the generosity of patriots, because we do not want to be beholden to a party or person. We believe in the Bible and the Constitution. How everyone else operates in regards to these important components of America is what NOQ Report brings to light.

The President must have the ability to declare national emergencies. Granting Congress authority over extending emergencies beyond their immediate response makes sense today and jibes with the Constitution. Mike Lee’s proposal was the right approach.

Will you help revive the American Conservative Movement?

One of the unfortunate realities of the conservative movement in the Age of Trump is that it has become another arm of the Trump propaganda machine. Gone are the days when conservatives fought for principles like smaller and limited government, fiscal responsibility, and traditional family values.

Instead, the Trumpservatives who now control the agenda have moved conservatism further left toward something I’ve come to call “conservative socialism.”

Gun control. Abortion. Paid family leave. Spending. These are just a few of the issues where this new brand of conservatism has failed to defend our values, and like a sickness, has spread to afflict every facet of the conservative movement, destroying it while pretending to protect it.

For example, we’ve witnessed how the formerly conservative House Freedom Caucus has abandoned its mission to “support open, accountable and limited government, the Constitution, and the rule of law, and policies that promote liberty, safety, and prosperity for all Americans” to make room for their unconditional support of Trump and the GOP establishment.

We’ve also witnessed how the faux-conservative media has promoted the lie that Trumpservatism equals conservatism as they defend groups like the House Freedom Caucus while demanding unconditional support of Trump and the GOP establishment because #notDemocrat.

Yesterday, I received an email from Senate Conservatives Action — the Political Action Committee arm of Senate Conservatives Fund (SCF) — praising Trump’s recent FY 2020 budget because it promises “more … spending cuts than any president in history” and would “balance the budget in 15 years.” It reads in part:

David:

President Donald Trump released his Fiscal Year 2020 budget this week, which proposes $2.7 trillion in spending cuts and would balance the budget in 15 years.

Our nation’s $22 trillion debt is unsustainable. If something isn’t done to correct it soon, the interest on the debt will crowd out true national priorities and could lead to a devastating financial crisis.

The president’s budget would begin to tackle this problem by cutting spending for programs including welfare assistance, environmental protection, and foreign aid. It would also cut more than $1.1 trillion from entitlement programs by returning power to the states.

Together, his budget includes more proposed discretionary and mandatory spending cuts than any president in history.

Please send President Trump a quick note thanking him for his leadership in working to cut federal spending. Also, please make a donation of any amount to help us fight for President Trump’s re-election next year.

We can’t afford to allow the Democrats and their socialist agenda to take over the White House. If that happens, you can be sure the next budget proposal will not include spending cuts.

Thank you for being part of our team and for doing so much to help us fight for freedom in Washington.

Sincerely,

Ken Cuccinelli II
President
Senate Conservatives Action

Apparently, irony is completely lost on Mr. Cuccinelli. As I mentioned earlier, Trump and the GOP are promoting “conservative socialism,” and Trump’s budget flies directly in the face of SCF’s commitment to only support “candidates who have the courage to fight for limited government.” Trump’s budget does nothing to limit government and it continues to grow the debt.

Conservative Review Senior Editor Daniel Horowitz recently wrote about Trump’s unreliable history when it comes to spending:

At the beginning of the Trump presidency in 2017, his Office of Management and Budget (OMB) immediately introduced a budget to cut spending for the remainder of FY 2017. Yet despite his party controlling both houses of Congress, the president signed a budget that spring ignoring every facet of his proposal.

Later that year, he introduced his budget proposal for FY 2018. The same thing happened. Then, the following year, the administration didn’t even pretend to cut spending and agreed with Congress to bust the budget caps by $300 billion, expanding the budget of almost every program and agency Trump promised to cut or eliminate.

A conservative revival can put America back on the right track, but it’ll never happen if we continue allowing the House Freedom Caucus, the faux-conservative media, the Senate Conservatives Fund, and other faux conservatives represent our values.

Originally posted on StridentConservative.com.

David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative. His daily radio commentary is distributed by the Salem Radio Network and is heard on stations across America.

Follow the Strident Conservative on Twitter and Facebook.

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Will you help revive the American Conservative Movement?