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Stop the bleeding: Fraud, tariffs and the reality of a $1.8 trillion deficit
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American Thinker, Approved, Commentary, National

Stop the bleeding: Fraud, tariffs and the reality of a $1.8 trillion deficit

By Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, American Thinker The U.S. federal government finished Fiscal Year 2025 with about $7 trillion in outlays and just over $5 trillion in revenues, leaving a deficit of roughly $1.8 trillion -- a gap that adds to the exploding national debt and threatens economic stability.  Under current trajectories, deficits are projected to remain near this scale for the foreseeable future, absent dramatic policy changes. What if, as some argue, the solution is staring us in the face: eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse across government programs and pair that with stronger tariff revenues?  Could that alone balance the budget without cutting core programs or raising taxes? Is this wishful thinking or a real possibility? There...
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Is a transhuman future taking shape while we look the other way?
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American Thinker, Approved, Commentary, National

Is a transhuman future taking shape while we look the other way?

By Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, American Thinker Evolutionary biologist Bret Weinstein recently warned about a danger that few in politics or tech are willing to face. On The Joe Rogan Experience, he described artificial intelligence (AI) as acting more like a living system than just a traditional tool. Speaking about the rapid evolution of AI, Weinstein argued that it might now be crossing a threshold where it functions less like a tool and more like a living system -- something that grows in complexity, evolves, adapts, and ultimately starts to influence the humans who created it. AI is truly complex, not just complicated, so new and unpredictable behaviors will emerge. It may be a new branch on the tree of life, as Weinstein suggests, without the physical limits that usua...
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The Trump engine fires on all cylinders while Congress idles
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American Thinker, Approved, Commentary, National

The Trump engine fires on all cylinders while Congress idles

By Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, American Thinker President Donald Trump has been back in office for almost a year -- roughly 315 days -- and has governed with the urgency of a turnaround CEO. He hit the ground running, signing executive orders immediately after inauguration and maintaining a pace unmatched in modern politics. But what becomes of all this action? Executive orders can be reversed the moment a new president arrives unless Congress codifies them into law. That’s the key difference between temporary executive action and lasting legislative reform. According to Ballotpedia, “As of November 25, 2025, President Donald Trump had signed 217 executive orders, 54 memoranda, and 110 proclamations in his second presidential term, which began on January 20, 2025.” Yet...
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Joy Reid discovers the Y in XY stands for “Yikes!” when she envisions locker-room reality
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American Thinker, Approved, Commentary, National

Joy Reid discovers the Y in XY stands for “Yikes!” when she envisions locker-room reality

By Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, American Thinker Joy Reid, the fired MSNBC commentator who swung from defining women as ‘a social construct’ and invoking Nazi Germany when anyone challenged transgender orthodoxy, now says she would “freak out” if she found a man in a women’s locker room. https://twitter.com/TheFive/status/1991506817138999298?s=20 A belated moment of honesty, it seems, yet it only underscores how privileged it is to hold ideological positions until they actually affect you. That’s the essence of one of the left’s modern pastimes – virtue signaling. Nothing reveals the hollowness of progressive politics faster than the moment when theory collides with biology. In a clip shared widely on X/Twitter, Reid admitted that yes, if she walked into the ...
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Why birthrates might quietly reshape America’s political future
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American Thinker, Approved, Commentary, National

Why birthrates might quietly reshape America’s political future

By Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, American Thinker Politics may be downstream from culture, but culture is downstream from cribs.  In the U.S. and across the West, who’s having children today will shape who’s running the country tomorrow. In the U.S. and other Western democracies, shifts in fertility, family structure, migration, and well-being are quietly redrawing the political map. Start with the simplest but most potent fact: elections are not won by ideas alone, but by people. This means new people - babies born, children raised, immigrants integrated, voters replaced. As conservative commentator Grant Mercer recently put it in his article “Womb Wars: The Future Belongs to Conservatives,” the left may be fighting for ideas, but if it fails to reproduce the ...
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From border hawks to benefit brokers: How Democrats flipped on illegal immigration
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American Thinker, Approved, Commentary, National

From border hawks to benefit brokers: How Democrats flipped on illegal immigration

By Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, American Thinker Let's waltz through the decades with Chuck Schumer, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, and Joe Biden, comparing their former stern warnings with their current soft-shoe routines. Buckle up, because this flip-flop parade will be an inconvenient sashay through their past statements. Back in 1996, Senator Chuck Schumer was the sheriff of congressional fiscal responsibility, wielding his gavel like a six-shooter. “People say, why can't you stop illegal immigrants from coming here? The number one answer we give our constituents is when they come here, they can get jobs, get benefits against the law because of fraud,” he declared during a U.S. House session. Fast forward to 2025. Last week, Schumer and his caucus sh...
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Situational Outrage: How Democrats Normalize Political Violence
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American Thinker, Approved, Commentary, National

Situational Outrage: How Democrats Normalize Political Violence

By Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, American Thinker Two recent House votes reveal a troubling trend about the current stance of one of America’s major political parties. In June, following the assassination of Minnesota legislator Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, the House acted swiftly and unanimously to condemn political violence. The vote was clear and bipartisan, with every member present indicating that killing a public official is beyond partisan bounds. Weeks later, after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a resolution to condemn his murder and reject political violence split the House. Leadership urged support, but many Democrats voted no, abstained, or stayed away. Progressive leaders used the moment to disparage Kirk’s life and work. The split was so sharp that House cons...
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Gold Card residency rewards those investing in America, not exploiting it
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American Thinker, Approved, Commentary, National

Gold Card residency rewards those investing in America, not exploiting it

By Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, American Thinker President Donald Trump’s two recent executive orders, one imposing a $100,000 annual fee on H-1B visas and the other launching the “Gold Card” fast-track residency program, represent the most significant immigration reforms in decades.  Image by ChatGPT They flip the incentive structure that has for years favored multinational corporations and global outsourcing firms over American workers, while also tackling long-ignored national security risks. As a policy, open borders is one area where Democrats and many Republicans agree. Democrats want new voters, while the Chamber of Commerce and Wall Street Journal Republicans want cheap labor. President George W. Bush, backed by Senator John McCain, in 2007, pushed for “comp...
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CO2 Alarmism: Science or Superstition?
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American Thinker, Approved, Commentary, National

CO2 Alarmism: Science or Superstition?

By Brian C. Joondeph | Commentary, American Thinker When Americans hear about carbon dioxide (CO2), it’s often shown as a harmful pollutant that threatens the planet. Politicians, activists, and media outlets warn that if we don’t reduce emissions right away, disaster will happen.  Preeminent “climate scientist” Al Gore told Congress in 2007, “The science is settled. Carbon dioxide emissions - from cars, power plants, buildings, and other sources - are heating the Earth's atmosphere.” He continued warning, “The planet has a fever.” Image generated by ChatGPT What if the fever is instead a cold plunge? As CNN reminded us earlier this year, “Record-breaking cold: Temperatures to plunge to as much as 50 degrees below normal.” The Weather Channel&nbs...
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When biology meets ideology: Why transgenderism is rooted in magical thinking
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American Thinker, Approved, Commentary, National

When biology meets ideology: Why transgenderism is rooted in magical thinking

By Brian C. Joondeph, M.D. | Commentary, American Thinker Magical thinking, according to Google’s AI overview, “is a cognitive distortion where a person believes their thoughts, wishes, or actions can directly influence external events, often without a logical connection.” It’s also known as superstitious thinking. We all see it in children when they knock on wood to invite good luck or when they worry about stepping on a crack. Athletes wear the same socks during games because they believe it helps them win. For kids, magical thinking is a way to handle a complicated and confusing world. But when it continues into adulthood, clinicians classify it as a psychiatric disorder. Schizophrenia, for example, is defined by the ICD-10 medical codebook as a disorder ...
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