Jason Rantz reports Snohomish County admits all 535,000 of its ballot envelopes say “Genereal Election.” Officials have called it a simple proofreading mistake, and a typo doesn’t change a single vote.
But critics ask: if no one caught a misspelling on half a million envelopes, what else gets missed? The Election Integrity Network suggests one way to check: after the election, publicly draw 5% of precincts from a hat, hand count every ballot there, and compare the totals to the machines.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department announced charges against 16 people nationwide for crimes including noncitizen voting and voting for the dead.
From the Bookmarks:
Jason Rantz: “Snohomish County admits all 535,000 ballot envelopes say ‘Genereal Election’ after embarrassing proofreader mistake.”
U.S. Department of Justice: charges involving 16 individuals “in connection with illegal voting, fraudulent voter registration, and related election crimes.”
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Synopsis: Can a Republican take back the 3rd District?
Ari Hoffman shares a new poll showing John Braun narrowly ahead of Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez as some Democrats say they won’t back her. Braun says he has a record of getting things done across the aisle in Olympia, while she has passed one bill in four years, renaming a post office. Her supporters point to her independent streak in a swing district.
PNW Conservative warns that Republicans who stayed home on Dave Reichert in 2024 got Gov. Ferguson and higher taxes, and urges voters not to let “the perfect be the enemy of the good.”
From the Bookmarks:
Ari Hoffman: “John Braun edges Marie Gluesenkamp Perez in new poll as Democrat faces fractured support.”
Synopsis: How much is Washington spending on migrant services, and is anyone checking?
Washington State Facts reports the Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance budget grew from $35.1 million in 2022 to a projected $105.2 million in 2026, plus $50 million more for migrant support.
Katie K USA points to an ICE arrest in Mill Creek and says the Keep Washington Working Act, which bars local jails from holding people for ICE, forces agents to chase suspects through apartment complexes.
Supporters say the law builds trust between immigrant communities and local police. Critics say it costs taxpayers and makes enforcement more dangerous.
From the Bookmarks:
Washington State Facts: “WA’s ORIA budget grew from $35.1M in 2022 to a projected $105.2M in 2026 … Who is auditing the results?”
Katie K USA: the Keep Washington Working Act “forces agents to chase suspects through parking lots and apartment complexes instead of picking them up at a jail.”
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Socialism has a price tag now. It is a bill on your house.
On Oct. 1, the White House Council of Economic Advisers priced the Democratic Socialists of America’s “2026 Workers Deserve More” program. Seven of eight major policies would add about $49 trillion to federal deficits from 2027 to 2036. That is about $355,000 for every American household. Medicare for All alone is $47.4 trillion. One program is nearly the whole tab.
The socialists wrote the list down. Medicare for All. A wealth tax. Canceled student debt and free college. A 32-hour workweek at the same weekly pay. Open borders and amnesty. A Green New Deal. Universal rent control. Abolish the police and the prison system. Seven of those eight hit the federal budget. The eighth hits your street.
The small items look cheap until you add them all up. Student debt and free college costs $3.6 trillion. The 32-hour week runs $920 billion. Open borders and amnesty run $527 billion. The Green New Deal shows $370 billion. Rent control adds $16 billion. The wealth tax raises $3.94 trillion and costs the economy $8.6 trillion. Rent control destroys $546 billion in value. Green New Deal costs hit $91,000 per household. Abolishing police and prisons is not scored in dollars. It is scored in crime and fear.
Borrow It or Tax It
That $49 trillion is not a one-time hit. It is about $4.9 trillion a year for ten years. Borrow it, or tax it. There is no third door.
Borrow it, and the house slips away. Thirty-year mortgage rates go to 12 percent or higher. Prices rise 130 to 160 percent over ten years. What costs $100 today costs $230 to $260. Federal debt hits 254 percent of the economy by 2036.
Tax it, and the paycheck shrinks before it lands. After-tax hourly wages fall 28.4 percent. That is about $22,000 less a year per worker. The average federal income-tax rate rises to 39.6 percent, up from 14.1 percent. Real output falls 14.6 percent. Hours worked fall 16.2 percent.
Either path costs jobs, housing, and savings. The 32-hour week cuts 4.2 to 6.9 million jobs. The wealth tax leaves 1.1 million fewer people working and knocks about $2,100 off the median 401(k). Rent control wipes out 3.3 million rental homes. Medicare for All cuts medical productivity 22 percent by 2036. You wait longer for care, and you have fewer options.
This is the price you pay with Socialism. Higher taxes and a shorter workweek cost the paycheck. Borrowing and 12 percent mortgages cost the chance to own a home. Abolishing the police costs the safety of a town. Embracing Shari’a Law costs the freedom to worship. Medical mandates “for your own good” costs the freedom to refuse.
The America First Choice
The White House put the choice in one line: “But under President Trump’s leadership, the United States of America will never be a Communist nation.”
Look at the difference. In 20 months the White House points to tax cuts that kept money in paychecks, more than a million jobs added, manufacturing wages up by more than $3,000, a secured border, and a drop in violent crime. Trump Accounts give nearly 70 million children a share of the stock market in their own name. Diesel relief saves Americans up to $100 a fill.
Set the two choices side by side. Grow the economy, or shrink it 14.6 percent. Secure the border, or reopen it and become the third world. Support public safety, or abolish the police and the prisons. Unleash American energy, or bill each household $91,000 for a Green New Deal. Protect religious liberty, or embrace Shari’a Law. Make America healthy again, or submit to medical mandates “for your own good.”
Gerald Ford warned that a government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take everything you have. The bill for socialism is your faith, your freedom, your mortgage, your raise, and your town’s police. Socialism would hand you and your children a debt of $355,000 a household and call it progress.
Already in WA State
You live in Washington. You have watched one-party rule for 30 years.
Schools cost more and teach less. The Democratic majority passed an income tax without amending the constitution. Men are housed in women’s prisons. Boys take girls’ places in sports. Schools keep secrets from parents. The Climate Commitment Act adds a hidden tax on every gallon of gas. The Clean Energy Transformation Act drives up the power bill and the cost of a home.
The state railroaded the King Ranch near Coulee City, a family cattle operation hit with orders and a compliance bill in the millions for cleaning stock ponds. Wolf rules tie the hands of cattle producers while packs grow and herds shrink. In September, the state Supreme Court threw out Initiative 2066, the natural gas measure voters passed.
Mark Your Ballot
Ask what 12 percent does to a loan. Ask what $22,000 less does to a family of four. Ask who shows up when the police are gone. Then mark your ballot accordingly because the answer matters.
In Washington’s congressional races, vote John Braun in the 3rd District, Amanda McKinney in the 4th, and Michael Baumgartner in the 5th. Vote “YES” on ALL the initiatives. Vote for Scott Edwards, David Stevens, Sean O’Donnell, Dave Larson, and Todd Bloom for State Supreme Court.
Vote Republican up and down your ballot this fall. The $49 trillion tab is federal. The unaffordable housing, poor education, the CCA, building codes, and the homelessness crisis are all local Washington results of socialist policies. A Republican Congress and state legislature could block the taxes, block the mandates, and restore public safety.
Ronald Reagan once said we are at war with “the most dangerous enemy that has ever faced mankind in his long climb from the swamp to the stars.” We agree.
Socialism has published its price, and the price is too high. Republican policy has published its answer. Ownership for children. Fuel you can afford. A border that holds. A town that still has police.
You hold the pen. ✍🏻 Vote to Save America. 🇺🇸
Nancy Churchill is a writer and educator in rural eastern Washington State, and the chair of the Ferry County Republican Party. She may be reached at DangerousRhetoric@pm.me. The opinions expressed in Dangerous Rhetoric are her own. Dangerous Rhetoric is available on Substack, X, and occasionally Rumble.
SOURCES:
(1) Workers Deserve More, Democratic Socialists of America, July 14, 2026, https://bit.ly/4hFN0xE
We can change the Supreme Court… but you must VOTE!
Vote “YES” on all three Initiatives!
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Br. Dr. Jill Glasspool Malone and Robert W. Malone
Proposed Federal Policy: A Presidential Executive Order to End Preharvest Chemical Desiccation
President Donald Trump should immediately sign an Executive Order under the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative directing the EPA and USDA to implement a three-year phaseout of routine preharvest chemical desiccation of food crops.
This would include preharvest uses of glyphosate, paraquat, diquat, and other herbicides and chemical desiccants registered for this purpose. EPA should initiate the regulatory process to withdraw these uses from pesticide registrations, while USDA assists farmers in transitioning to established nonchemical harvesting methods.
The policy would specifically target chemical applications immediately before harvest, without prohibiting herbicide use for weed management during the growing season or interfering with no-till agriculture.
Its objectives are straightforward: reduce pesticide residues in America’s food supply, lower unnecessary human exposure, and protect soil health, waterways, and wildlife.
President Trump can initiate this policy immediately through executive action, with the agencies completing the necessary regulatory procedures during the three-year transition. American farmers harvested crops without these chemicals for generations. They can do so again
For generations, American farmers grew wheat, oats, soybeans, and other food crops, allowed them to mature, and harvested them without spraying herbicides over the fields shortly before bringing the crops into the food supply. They relied on natural maturation, field drying, swathing, and mechanical harvesting. These methods were not primitive relics of an agricultural past. They were practical techniques that helped feed a growing nation, and many remain in use today. In fact, organic farmers still routinely use these methods to dry crops prior to processing.
Then came another agricultural innovation, one that promised farmers greater convenience, more predictable harvest schedules, and potentially lower operating costs. Instead of waiting for crops to dry naturally, farmers could apply chemical herbicides shortly before harvest to kill remaining green vegetation, accelerate drying, or make harvesting more uniform.
The practice is called preharvest chemical desiccation. Glyphosate, the active ingredient historically associated with Roundup, is among the chemicals used for this purpose. Others include paraquat, diquat, sodium chlorate, saflufenacil, and carfentrazone, depending on the crop and the product’s regulatory approval.
What began as a specialized agricultural technique has become an established harvest-management practice in American agriculture. Yet the American public has received remarkably little information about how frequently these chemicals are applied immediately before food crops are harvested, what residues remain, or whether the benefits justify the additional chemical exposure.
This all needs to change.
This is not an argument for eliminating all herbicides from American agriculture at this point in time. Nor is it an argument about genetically modified crops, conventional weed management, or the use of herbicides to terminate cover crops before planting. Those are separate issues.
This is about one specific practice: spraying herbicides onto crops shortly before harvesting them for food.
It is an agricultural practice we can reconsider and phase out without reinventing farming.
How Did This Become Normal?
Chemical crop desiccation became normalized during the 1980s and 1990s, when preharvest glyphosate applications became established in certain grain-producing regions. Charles Benbrook’s 2016 peer-reviewed analysis, Trends in Glyphosate Herbicide Use in the United States and Globally, identified increasing harvest-aid applications beginning in the mid-2000s, particularly involving wheat, barley, edible beans, and other crops in northern states.
The growth of glyphosate use overall was extraordinary. Estimated U.S. agricultural use increased from approximately 7.7 million pounds of active ingredient in 1990 to nearly 250 million pounds in 2014, an increase of more than thirtyfold.
Not all of that increase involves preharvest desiccation. Much of glyphosate use is associated with weed management, including the adoption of glyphosate-tolerant crops. It would be inaccurate to attribute the entire increase to spraying immediately before harvest.
Nevertheless, the expansion of preharvest applications was part of a larger transformation in American agriculture, one in which chemical intervention increasingly replaced traditional management practices.
There is a revealing gap in the federal data. USDA surveys report how many acres receive particular herbicides, how much is applied, and which crops are treated. But the publicly available national summaries do not consistently distinguish preharvest applications from herbicide treatments earlier in the growing season.
Consequently, we cannot confidently state what percentage of American wheat, oats, or soybeans receives preharvest chemical desiccation in any given year.
That is not a minor omission. It means the public cannot easily determine how widespread the practice has become, despite its potential implications for food residues and environmental exposure.
And it raises an obvious question: Why isn’t USDA routinely publishing those numbers?
These Chemicals Are Applied When Food Is Nearly Ready to Harvest
The timing is what makes preharvest desiccation different from many other agricultural pesticide applications.
When herbicides are applied earlier in the growing season, there may be weeks or months before harvest. Environmental degradation, plant metabolism, and dew and rainwater runoff that remove or dilute the chemicals can affect the eventual residue concentrations.
Preharvest applications are left on the crop.
For example, some EPA-approved glyphosate labels permit applications to mature wheat with a minimum interval of seven days before harvest. Glyphosate may be applied to a standing food crop approximately one week before it enters the harvesting process.
Glyphosate is a systemic herbicide. It can be absorbed by plants and transported through their tissues. Consequently, residues cannot necessarily be eliminated by rainfall, washing, or removing material from the surface of the grain just prior to harvest.
Other herbicides have different chemical properties, environmental behavior, and residue profiles. Paraquat and diquat are contact herbicides, while sodium chlorate and saflufenacil operate through different mechanisms. Their risks cannot simply be assumed to be identical to glyphosate’s.
But the common question remains: Why apply these chemicals to food crops at the very end of their growing cycle when the primary benefit is often harvest management rather than increased biological production?
A mature wheat plant does not produce additional grain because it has been sprayed with glyphosate. In other words, these chemicals are not indispensable to producing the crop. They are tools used to manage the harvest.
That distinction should be central to any serious regulatory assessment.
Americans Are Excreting Glyphosate
In 2022, the CDC published biomonitoring findings showing that glyphosate was detectable in the urine of approximately 81 percent of Americans represented by its 2013–2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey samples. This means that exposure was widespread enough for the chemical to be detected in urine using modern analytical methods.
Glyphosate was not part of American agricultural practice before its commercial introduction in the 1970s. Today, measurable exposure is common.
Urinary measurements do not identify what fraction of exposure results specifically from preharvest desiccation. Nevertheless, preharvest applications represent an identifiable exposure pathway that can be investigated and potentially eliminated.
And glyphosate is not the only chemical involved.
Other preharvest herbicides may leave residues in harvested commodities, depending on their application rates, chemical properties, crop metabolism, and time between treatment and harvest.
The Regulatory Question EPA Has Not Adequately Answered
Under federal pesticide law, EPA establishes residue tolerances using toxicological assessments, residue studies, estimated dietary exposure, and other evidence. These tolerances determine the maximum concentrations legally permitted in or on food.
Over time, some glyphosate tolerances have increased substantially.
For example, the tolerance for glyphosate residues in wheat grain increased from 5 parts per million in 2000 to 30 parts per million under the current regulation. The tolerance for oat grain increased from 20 to 30 parts per million, while the tolerance for field corn grain increased from 1 to 5 parts per million.
These are legal maximum concentrations, not measurements of typical residues in supermarket foods. Nor can every increase automatically be attributed to preharvest desiccation. Some changes reflect other registered agricultural uses.
But the regulatory history raises an important question.
When EPA evaluates a proposed preharvest application, it asks whether residues resulting from the authorized use can be considered safe under its established toxicological and dietary exposure framework.
What is less clear is whether EPA has systematically compared the dietary exposure resulting from preharvest desiccation against the exposure that would occur if the same crop were harvested without chemical treatment.
That is the comparison that matters for this policy question.
If wheat, oats, soybeans, or other food crops can be harvested without a late-season herbicide application, then the relevant question should not be limited to whether the resulting residues fall below an established regulatory ceiling.
It should also be whether the additional chemical exposure is necessary. A tolerance is permission for a certain level of residue. It is not proof that the residue was unavoidable.
Exposure to these chemicals needs to be limited in every way possible. Instead, the EPA sets exposure limits and walks away from the issue.
The Scientific Literature Is Raising Questions
For years, the debate over glyphosate has been dominated by arguments about carcinogenicity, particularly the disagreement between the International Agency for Research on Cancer and regulatory agencies that have reached different conclusions about cancer risks under evaluated exposure conditions.
But the research literature extends far beyond cancer.
Experimental studies have examined glyphosate and glyphosate-based formulations in relation to reproductive development, endocrine signaling, oxidative stress, the intestinal microbiome, neurological development, and other biological systems.
A 2022 study by Gerona and colleagues detected glyphosate in the urine of 186 of 187 pregnant women enrolled in a high-risk Indiana pregnancy cohort. Among the pregnancies included in the outcome analysis, higher first-trimester urinary glyphosate concentrations were associated with lower birth-weight percentiles.
A separate study by Lesseur and colleagues detected glyphosate and its degradation product AMPA in most maternal urine samples from a smaller multicenter pregnancy cohort. The investigators reported associations involving AMPA and anogenital distance in female infants, although some glyphosate associations did not remain statistically significant after adjustment.
These are observational studies. They cannot establish that glyphosate caused the outcomes, and they cannot identify preharvest spraying as the source of exposure.
Animal experiments provide additional mechanistic evidence. Studies have reported changes in ovarian steroidogenesis, sperm development, reproductive tissue structure, and endocrine signaling following glyphosate or glyphosate-based herbicide exposure.
A 2024 mouse study by Valente and colleagues found that mixtures of glyphosate and 2,4-D worsened certain reproductive abnormalities associated with a Western-style diet.
The exposure levels, formulations, and experimental conditions differ substantially among these studies. Some are relevant to low-dose exposure; others involve concentrations that cannot be directly equated with ordinary dietary residues.
Recent reviews published in 2025 have continued examining reproductive toxicity, endocrine effects, environmental contamination, and the potential importance of formulation ingredients that are not captured by testing glyphosate alone.
This growing literature is relevant to regulatory decisions because pesticide approvals necessarily involve judgments about uncertainty, exposure, and acceptable risk.
If a particular exposure pathway is not essential to producing food, the case for allowing it deserves renewed scrutiny.
The data on urine GLY concentration and nine health outcomes, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), hypertension, cardiovascular disease (CVD), obesity, chronic kidney disease (CKD), hepatic steatosis, cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and neurodegenerative diseases (NGDs), were extracted from NHANES (2013-2016)
The findings of the study revealed that individuals with higher urinary concentrations of GLY had a higher likelihood of having T2DM (type 2 diabetes), hypertension, CVD and obesity (p < 0.001, p = 0.005, p < 0.001 and p = 0.005, respectively). In the reverse-scale Cox regression, a notable association was solely discerned between exposure to GLY and the risk of T2DM (adjusted HR = 1.22, 95% CI: 1.10, 1.36). Consistent outcomes were also obtained via logistic regression analysis, wherein the adjusted OR and 95% CI for T2DM were determined to be 1.30 (1.12, 1.52). Moreover, the present investigation identified serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) as a mediator in this association, with a mediating effect of 7.14% (p = 0.040). This mediating effect was further substantiated by RCS regression, wherein significant dose-response associations were observed between GLY exposure and an increased risk of T2DM (p = 0.002) and reduced levels of HDL (p = 0.001). Collectively, these findings imply an association between GLY exposure and an increased risk of T2DM in the general adult population.
The Environmental Damage Done
Food residues are only part of the story. Herbicides can move beyond the treated crop through runoff, drainage, erosion, and spray drift.
USGS monitoring has documented glyphosate in American streams and rivers. EPA ecological assessments have identified potential risks to nontarget plants and animals from several herbicides used in agriculture, including paraquat and diquat.
Aquatic plants and algae can be especially vulnerable to herbicides because the chemicals are designed to interfere with plant growth or survival. Some herbicides and formulations also affect aquatic invertebrates, fish, amphibians, and other organisms.
Healthy soil is not simply a medium that holds plant roots. It is a living ecosystem containing fungi, bacteria, protozoa, nematodes, earthworms, and countless other organisms involved in decomposition, nutrient cycling, and plant health.
Research has demonstrated that glyphosate exposure can alter soil microbial communities and biological processes. Agricultural chemicals do not necessarily remain confined to their intended targets, and repeated exposures can influence ecosystems in ways that extend beyond the immediate agricultural purpose and are difficult to measure.
There are also indirect effects. Herbicide-driven removal of vegetation can reduce habitat and food resources for insects and other invertebrates, with potential consequences for birds and other wildlife that depend on them.
Every unnecessary application adds to the overall chemical burden that agriculture places on the environment. Eliminating routine preharvest applications would remove one identifiable source of that burden.
We Already Know How to Harvest Without Chemical Desiccants
This is the practical point that makes a targeted policy possible.
Farmers do not need to rediscover agriculture to stop spraying herbicides immediately before harvest. Up until fairly recently, this was the standard operating procedure.
Wheat and other grains can mature and dry naturally. Crops can be swathed or windrowed where appropriate. Modern combines can harvest mature crops directly, and mechanical drying can be used when necessary.
Soybeans can also be harvested without chemical desiccation, as they routinely are in many operations. Preharvest treatments may help manage green weeds, uneven maturation, or particular harvesting conditions, but they are not an inherent biological requirement for soybean production.
Corn illustrates why precision matters. Although certain preharvest herbicide uses are registered, chemical desiccation of standing grain corn is not the universal or standard method of harvesting American corn. Much of the crop is allowed to senesce and dry naturally before combining.
Pre-harvest chemical desiccation is an optional agricultural intervention for which nonchemical harvesting alternatives already exist.
A Presidential Executive Order:
Three Years to End Preharvest Chemical Desiccation
President Donald Trump should immediately sign an Executive Order under the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to begin a three-year phaseout of routine preharvest chemical desiccation of food crops. This would include preharvest uses of glyphosate, paraquat, diquat, sodium chlorate, saflufenacil, and other herbicides and chemical desiccants registered for this purpose. The Executive Order would establish a clear federal policy and deadline, directing both agencies to use their existing statutory authorities to implement the transition.
The policy would be narrowly targeted. It would not prohibit herbicide use for weed management during the growing season, interfere with no-till agriculture, or require farmers to adopt new cultivation systems. Its purpose would be to eliminate an avoidable source of pesticide residues in the American food supply while reducing unnecessary chemical exposure in agricultural ecosystems. This is precisely the kind of practical, achievable reform that the MAHA initiative was established to pursue: reducing preventable chemical exposures while supporting American farmers and improving the quality of the nation’s food supply.
During the first year, President Trump’s Executive Order would direct EPA to initiate the regulatory process of withdrawing routine preharvest desiccation uses from pesticide registrations, following the applicable legal procedures. USDA would work with agricultural producers, extension services, and equipment manufacturers to prepare for the transition. Farmers would receive advance notice of the new requirements and time to adjust their harvesting schedules and management practices. The administration would establish a firm timetable, with public progress reports and clear agency accountability.
During the second year, restrictions would begin taking effect for crops where established nonchemical harvesting methods are readily available. Farmers would transition to natural maturation, field drying, swathing, and conventional mechanical harvesting, as appropriate for each crop. USDA would provide technical assistance to producers who need help adapting their operations. The objective would not be to impose an entirely new agricultural system, but to return to harvesting methods that have been successfully used for generations and remain in use today.
By the end of the third year, EPA would complete the necessary regulatory actions to prohibit routine preharvest chemical desiccation of food crops under federally approved pesticide labels, subject to applicable statutory requirements. Any narrowly defined emergency exceptions would require specific justification rather than becoming another avenue for routine use. Farmers would retain access to other lawful crop-management tools, but spraying herbicides onto mature food crops immediately before harvest would no longer be an accepted standard practice.
The research and regulatory review should support this transition, not become an excuse to postpone it indefinitely. During the phaseout, EPA and USDA should document the acreage currently receiving preharvest applications, measure pesticide residues in treated and untreated crops, and evaluate changes in dietary exposure. They should also review the history of EPA residue tolerances and minimum preharvest intervals, including whether previous approvals adequately considered the availability of nonchemical harvesting alternatives. Environmental monitoring should assess reductions in chemical releases to soil and waterways.
These studies would provide valuable information about the benefits of the policy, but the fundamental agricultural question has already been answered by generations of farmers: food crops can be grown and harvested without routine chemical desiccation. Certified organic grain production demonstrates that this remains commercially possible today. The federal government should not require another decade of research simply to begin reducing an avoidable source of chemical exposure.
President Trump has an opportunity to make this a concrete achievement of the MAHA agenda. Rather than another commission, another report, or another round of promises about cleaning up America’s food supply, an Executive Order would establish an immediate direction for federal policy, a defined transition period, and measurable objectives. The order could be signed now. The agencies would then be responsible for carrying out the required regulatory actions, assisting farmers, and documenting the results.
The federal government does not need to ban all agricultural herbicides, restructure American farming, or wait until every scientific controversy surrounding these chemicals has been resolved. EPA already has a regulatory framework for modifying pesticide registrations, and USDA has the expertise to help producers make the transition. A three-year phaseout would give farmers reasonable time to adapt while establishing a clear deadline for ending the practice.
The objective is simple: President Trump should sign the Executive Order, EPA should begin the regulatory phaseout, and USDA should help American farmers transition away from routine preharvest chemical desiccation. Three years would provide a defined timetable for making this change a national agricultural standard. This would be a tangible MAHA reform, reducing avoidable pesticide exposure in the American food supply rather than merely talking about it.
Stop Spraying Our Food. We Know How to Harvest Without Chemicals.
For decades, Americans have been assured that pesticide residues in their food are safe because they fall below limits established by federal regulators. But many of the toxicological studies underlying EPA’s pesticide safety assessments were conducted years or even decades ago, before advances in our understanding of endocrine disruption, developmental toxicity, reproductive health, the microbiome, and the potential consequences of chronic, low-dose chemical exposure. Although EPA periodically reassesses pesticide registrations and tolerances, the question remains whether those evaluations adequately incorporate the latest independent scientific research, particularly studies involving vulnerable populations, chemical mixtures, and long-term exposure.
Meanwhile, some legal residue tolerances have actually increased as agricultural practices have changed. This most likely was due to lobbying efforts by industry. Raising a permissible residue limit does not make the chemical less biologically active, nor does it demonstrate that greater exposure is beneficial or necessary. It means regulators have authorized more of that chemical to remain in the food supply. Consumers are expected to trust that the underlying risk assessments adequately protect their health, even as new research continues to raise questions about effects that earlier regulatory studies may not have fully examined.
But this entire regulatory arrangement avoids a far more fundamental question: Why are we allowing farmers to spray herbicides onto food crops immediately before harvest when those chemicals are not necessary to grow the food in the first place? Rather than endlessly debating how much chemical residue Americans should be expected to tolerate, perhaps it is time to eliminate agricultural practices that introduce avoidable residues into our food supply. The EPA should not merely be asking how much pesticide exposure is legally permissible. It should also be asking how much of that exposure is necessary at all.
Chemical desiccation was introduced largely to make harvesting faster, more predictable, and more economical. It was not a breakthrough that suddenly made wheat, oats, soybeans, and other crops capable of producing food. Farmers had been growing and harvesting these crops for generations without spraying them with herbicides shortly before harvest. Modern equipment has made harvesting more efficient than ever. Yet somewhere along the way, another chemical application became an accepted part of managing the harvest, and the resulting pesticide residues became something regulators were tasked with accommodating.
Consider what that means. Rather than asking whether these late-season applications are necessary, EPA increases the amount of chemical residue that may legally remain in our food. Rather than requiring the agricultural industry to demonstrate that the additional exposure is justified, regulators evaluate whether it falls within an acceptable risk calculation. And rather than making the elimination of avoidable exposure a public-health priority, the system permits the practice to continue as long as the resulting residues comply with federal standards.
Meanwhile, Americans are routinely exposed to glyphosate, and the scientific literature continues to raise questions about the effects of chronic exposure to herbicides and their formulations. These chemicals can also enter soil and waterways, affecting organisms that have nothing to do with the intended agricultural application. The consequences extend beyond the consumer’s dinner plate to the biological systems that sustain agricultural production itself.
The burden of justification should be on those who want to continue spraying herbicides onto food crops immediately before harvest, not on Americans who question why these chemicals are being applied at all.The ability to detect a chemical residue and declare it legally acceptable is not the same as demonstrating that the exposure was necessary, beneficial, or unavoidable.
The solution does not require another decade of committees, regulatory reviews, and scientific arguments over precisely how much exposure might be acceptable. It requires a clear federal policy, a reasonable three-year transition period, and the willingness to eliminate a particular agricultural practice that has established nonchemical alternatives. EPA can begin the regulatory process of withdrawing preharvest desiccation uses from pesticide registrations, while USDA helps farmers adapt their harvesting operations. The agencies can measure changes in food residues, human exposure, and environmental contamination as the phaseout proceeds.
American farmers knew how to harvest crops before chemical desiccation became an established practice. They still know how. Certified organic grain producers demonstrate that food can be grown and harvested commercially without prohibited synthetic preharvest herbicides. There is no need to confuse this proposal with banning all pesticides, abandoning modern agriculture, or returning to labor-intensive farming methods. It is a targeted effort to eliminate a source of chemical exposure that is not essential to producing the crop.
For too long, the debate has centered on how much pesticide residue Americans should be expected to tolerate. It is time to ask why they should be expected to tolerate residues from an avoidable preharvest application at all.
The EPA should begin a three-year phaseout of routine preharvest chemical desiccation of food crops. USDA should support farmers through the transition. The agricultural industry should be expected to adapt, just as it has adapted to countless changes in technology and agricultural practice.
We do not need to keep spraying herbicides on food just because we have become accustomed to doing it. We know how to harvest without them. It is time to stop.
Thanks for reading Malone News! This post is public so feel free to share it on social media or email. Let’s get the word out about this proposed policy change!
Help Put This Proposal Before Federal Decision-Makers
This article proposes a specific federal policy: a presidential Executive Order directing EPA and USDA to begin a three-year phaseout of routine preharvest chemical desiccation of food crops.
Readers who believe this proposal deserves serious consideration can help bring it to the attention of the White House, EPA leadership, USDA, and HHS. Share this article, include the link in your correspondence, and ask federal officials to review the evidence and respond to the proposed policy.
The objective is to move this discussion beyond social media and into the offices responsible for agricultural regulation, food safety, and public health. Federal Contacts: Preharvest Desiccation Policy
Official government contact channels
1. The White House — President Donald Trump
The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500
A policy-analysis office within HHS, with a published public inquiry address.
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This article is more than an examination of agricultural chemicals. It is a call for a specific policy change that could reduce unnecessary pesticide exposure in our food supply. The research, regulatory history, and proposed three-year phaseout deserve serious consideration by the White House, EPA, USDA, and HHS leadership. But getting these ideas in front of decision-makers requires independent journalism that is willing to ask difficult questions and challenge established practices.
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References
Benbrook CM. Trends in glyphosate herbicide use in the United States and globally. Environmental Sciences Europe. 2016;28:3.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Agricultural Chemical Use Program. USDA.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Glyphosate; Tolerances for Residues. 40 CFR §180.364.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Draft Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessments for Glyphosate. 2017.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. EPA Releases Glyphosate Human Health Open Literature Search Document for Public Feedback. August 25, 2026.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Safeguarding with Science: Glyphosate Testing in 2015–2016. Ottawa: CFIA; 2016.
Ospina M, Schütze A, Morales-Agudelo P, et al. Exposure to glyphosate in the United States: Data from the 2013–2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Environment International. 2022;170:107620.
Li W, Lei D, Huang G, et al. Association of glyphosate exposure with multiple adverse outcomes and potential mediators. Chemosphere. 2023;345:140477.
Gerona RR, Reiter JL, Zakharevich I, et al. Glyphosate exposure in early pregnancy and reduced fetal growth: A prospective observational study of high-risk pregnancies. Environmental Health. 2022;21:95.
Lesseur C, Pirrotte P, Pathak KV, et al. Maternal urinary levels of glyphosate during pregnancy and anogenital distance in newborns in a US multicenter pregnancy cohort. Environmental Pollution. 2021;280:117002.
Chitolina R, Nicola P, Sachett A, et al. Subacute exposure to Roundup changes steroidogenesis and gene expression of the glutathione-glutaredoxin system in rat ovaries: Implications for ovarian toxicity of this glyphosate-based herbicide. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology. 2023;473:116599.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Preliminary Ecological Risk Assessment for the Registration Review of Paraquat. June 26, 2019.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Glyphosate: Ecological Health and Registration Review.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Paraquat Dichloride: Ecological Health and Registration Review.
By: Dr.s Jill Glasspool Malone and Robert W. Malone
“In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.”
In the 1960s, when I was a child in elementary school, California was enjoying its golden years. Agriculture was thriving, vast cattle ranches still dotted the arid landscape, and the aerospace industry was reaching extraordinary heights. Hollywood was the undisputed capital of American moviemaking, and the state’s population and economy were growing by leaps and bounds. Brand new, uncrowded freeways made it easy to get around. California represented the best and brightest of America, a place of opportunity, innovation, ambition, and seemingly limitless possibilities. People from around the world looked to California as a symbol of what America could accomplish. There was a palpable sense of optimism about the future, a belief that hard work, ingenuity, and determination could make almost anything possible.
I grew up in Goleta, on California’s Central Coast, where Spanish heritage was woven into the landscape, the architecture, the place names, and the history we learned in school. We studied the Spanish missions, the California vaqueros, the great ranchos, and the Chumash Indians who had inhabited the region long before Europeans arrived. We learned about the hardships and injustices experienced by the Chumash, but we also learned about the explorers, missionaries, ranchers, and settlers who shaped California. I remember reading Richard Henry Dana Jr.’s Two Years Before the Mast, with its vivid descriptions of life aboard a sailing ship and the California coast in the 1830s. These stories brought our local history to life. They gave us an appreciation for the people who came before us, the hardships they endured, and the extraordinary changes that had transformed California into the place we called home.
And, of course, we learned American history. We learned about Christopher Columbus and his three small ships, the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María, sailing across the vast Atlantic in 1492. We learned about Spain’s role in the voyages of discovery, the European settlement of the Americas, the thirteen colonies, the American Revolution, and the founding of the United States. These stories were taught with a sense of wonder and pride. We were encouraged to admire the courage of explorers, the determination of pioneers, and the extraordinary accomplishments of the men and women who helped build this nation. We learned that America was a land of opportunity, a country founded on the ideals of liberty and self-government, and a place where ordinary people could aspire to extraordinary things.
That education gave us something important. It gave us a connection to our history, a sense of belonging, and pride in the country we had inherited. It taught us that America was worth appreciating, worth defending, and worth improving. It gave us patriotism, not as a political slogan or an obligation imposed from above, but as something that grew naturally from learning about the people, events, sacrifices, and achievements that had made our country possible.
The Columbus I learned about in elementary school was a navigator who crossed an immense ocean in three small wooden ships, undertaking a voyage whose outcome was anything but certain. We memorized the familiar rhyme, learned the names of the ships, and imagined what it must have been like to sail westward into waters that few Europeans had ever crossed. We were also taught about the people who already inhabited the Americas, the Spanish missions, and the hardships and injustices of colonization. We were instructed to read “Ishi in two worlds,” the heartrending story of one of the last remaining Native Californians to grow up outside the surrounding Anglo-Spanish-American culture. Learning about those darker chapters did not prevent us from appreciating the extraordinary accomplishments that had shaped the world we inherited.
Today, the educational emphasis is quite different. The Pulitzer Center distributes classroom materials that explicitly seek to reframe American history around 1619 and the institution of slavery.
Launched by The New York Times in 2019, the 1619 Project seeks to reframe American history around the arrival of enslaved Africans in colonial Virginia rather than the founding of the United States in 1776. Its central premise is that slavery and its legacy are fundamental to understanding virtually every aspect of American society. What began as a magazine publication has grown into a substantial educational enterprise, supported by the Pulitzer Center, with more than 100 curricular resources, a national network of more than 400 educators across 30 states, professional-development conferences, and classroom materials extending from elementary school through law school. Its original educational guides reportedly received more than one million accesses during their first five years.
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), led by Randi Weingarten, has actively promoted the project through its Share My Lesson platform and partnered with the Pulitzer Center to distribute teaching resources. This is no longer simply a controversial interpretation of American history. It is an organized effort to influence how American history is taught, supported by educational institutions, philanthropic funding, and a major national teachers’ union. The concern is not that children are learning about slavery, which is an essential part of American history, but that a contested interpretation placing racial oppression at the center of America’s origins is being promoted as a foundational framework for understanding the country and its institutions.
The Pulitzer Center identifies Meta, Open Society Foundations, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and several other philanthropic organizations among supporters of its 1619 education initiative
California’s own Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum directs attention toward colonialism, systemic oppression, and social transformation. Educational organizations publish elementary-school lessons encouraging children to reconsider the celebration of Columbus. These are not imaginary controversies invented by political commentators. The materials are publicly available, and their authors openly describe the changes in historical interpretation they seek to promote.
There is an important difference between teaching children that Columbus and America’s founders were imperfect men, sometimes responsible for grave injustices, and teaching American history through an interpretive framework in which exploitation and oppression occupy the center of the national story. The first expands historical understanding. The second raises legitimate questions about how the nation’s achievements, founding ideals, and historical failures are weighed against one another. What children learn to admire, what they learn to condemn, and what they learn to regard as their national inheritance will influence how they understand the country in which they live.
And what are the results of this re-educational programming?
The generational divide is striking. According to Gallup’s analysis of surveys conducted between 2021 and 2025, only 41 percent of Generation Z adults described themselves as extremely or very proud to be American, compared with 75 percent of Baby Boomers and 83 percent of the Silent Generation. These numbers raise an important question about the relationship between what children are taught and how they eventually regard their country. For generations, American schools emphasized the nation’s founding ideals, its achievements, and the responsibilities of citizenship, alongside its historical failures. American schools taught Americanism, a belief in the greatness of America.
The change extends beyond national pride. A September 2020 Pew Research Center survey found that 86 percent of Black adults believed America had not done enough to secure racial equality, up from 78 percent just a year earlier. Nearly two-thirds reported recently educating themselves about the history of racial inequality.
In 2020, 86% of black and Hispanic adults said that the country hasn’t done enough to address racial inequality.
These findings emerged during a period of intense national conflict over race and reflect a growing emphasis on racial identity and historical injustice. They also raise a question worth examining: whether educational approaches that increasingly organize American history around racial divisions help students understand and overcome those divisions, or risk reinforcing them.
Today, most educational programs place considerably greater emphasis on systemic oppression, racial injustice, and the shortcomings of American institutions. There is no question that the shift has contributed to the growing generational divide in national pride.
The generational divide is unmistakable. Gallup found that only 41 percent of Generation Z adults are extremely or very proud to be American, compared with 75 percent of Baby Boomers. YouGov polling also shows that younger Americans are far more likely to view Christopher Columbus unfavorably than their grandparents. These surveys reveal a profound shift in how younger generations regard their country and its historical figures. When schools change the way American history is taught, it is reasonable to ask whether they are also changing how children understand what it means to be American.
Children begin forming attitudes about race, identity, and belonging long before they are capable of critically evaluating complicated historical arguments. Developmental research shows that racial attitudes emerge in early childhood and are shaped by the messages children receive from adults, peers, and institutions. This places an enormous responsibility on schools. Teaching any child to judge classmates through inherited categories of racial guilt or victimhood will reinforce the very prejudices education should help overcome.
When Racial Justice Became an Industry
The death of George Floyd in May 2020 ignited a wave of anger that swept across the United States. The demonstrations, riots, destruction of property, and demands for institutional change did not emerge in an organizational vacuum. Long before Floyd’s death, major philanthropic foundations had been financing an extensive network of racial-justice organizations, activist training programs, and political advocacy groups. The Ford Foundation helped establish the Black-Led Movement Fund in 2016, while George Soros’s Open Society Foundations contributed to the network through the Borealis Philanthropy.
The money supported grassroots organizing, direct-action training, leadership development, and campaigns to transform public institutions. Following Floyd’s death, the funding expanded dramatically. In July 2020, Open Society announced $220 million in commitments to Black-led organizations and racial-justice initiatives. What began as public outrage over a death in police custody rapidly became a nationwide political and institutional movement backed by substantial financial resources.
The nationwide protests and riots following George Floyd’s death in 2020 came at an enormous human and economic cost. According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), at least 25 people were killed in demonstrations and incidents connected to the broader political unrest. The Major Cities Chiefs Association documented more than 2,000 police officers injured between May and July, while the total number of civilian injuries remains unknown.
Rioting, arson, vandalism, and looting spread across more than 140 American cities. According to the Insurance Information Institute, the destruction resulted in more than $2 billion in insured losses, making the unrest the costliest civil disorder event in American insurance history. The violence accompanying the movement left communities devastated, businesses destroyed, and a financial burden extending well beyond the insured losses.
The infrastructure for mobilizing protests, amplifying political messages, and pressing institutions for change had been built over years. Organized advocacy and spontaneous public anger reinforced one another. The result was a period in which race became an organizing principle for political debate, corporate policy, university administration, and educational “reform.”
The timing coincided with a troubling change in racial attitudes. In the American National Election Studies data, the average favorability rating that Black Americans ages 18–29 gave white Americans fell from approximately 64 in 2016 to 47 in 2020, before partially recovering to 56 in 2024. The pattern documents that the extraordinary emphasis and money spent on amplifying racial division during 2020 had the desired effect: it reinforced racial tension.
The relationship between the protest movement and education is especially relevant. The 1619 Project had launched in 2019, before Floyd’s death, and was already promoting an interpretation of American history centered on slavery being the foremost catalyst for the founding of America, with continuing consequences that last until now.
There is an intellectual connection worth examining as well. Marxist and neo-Marxist traditions have long emphasized the relationship between social institutions, power, economic inequality, and political change.
The educational philosophy known as critical pedagogy was heavily influenced by Paulo Freire, a Brazilian socialist educator whose work drew extensively on Marxist theories of oppression and class struggle. Freire believed schools should do more than teach facts and practical skills. Education should encourage students to question established institutions, identify perceived systems of oppression, and become agents of social and political change. His ideas have become influential in American universities and schools of education and helped shape approaches to teaching that emphasize social justice and political consciousness. Basically, these ideas have woven Marxist theories into educational curricula
The events of 2020 therefore deserve examination not only as a protest movement but as a turning point in institutional approaches to race and Marxist theory. The documented funding networks, rapid expansion of racial-justice programs, and contemporaneous deterioration in some measures of interracial attitudes are related. The resulting institutional changes have deepened the divisions they sought to address.
From Columbus to the Classroom
The controversy over Christopher Columbus is no longer simply about a fifteenth-century explorer. It is part of a much larger struggle over how American history is interpreted and transmitted to the next generation. Consider how differently children can encounter the same historical figure. One lesson introduces Columbus through navigation, maritime exploration, the dangers of the Atlantic crossing, and the extraordinary consequences of 1492.
Another begins by asking students to reconsider whether Columbus deserves to be celebrated or even remembered, emphasizing conquest, enslavement, and the experiences of Indigenous peoples. Both subjects belong in a serious history curriculum, but the choice of emphasis matters, particularly for young children who are still developing their understanding of history, identity, and national belonging.
The movement to reshape historical education is neither imaginary nor confined to individual classrooms. The Pulitzer Center’s 1619 Project Education Network has offered grants to educators developing curricula centered on slavery, racial inequality, and their contemporary consequences. Its supporters have included George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, alongside Meta and other major philanthropic organizations. The initiative has also reached university schools of education, where future teachers are trained. Its published grant objectives go beyond historical instruction to include preparing students to participate in social change.
The more immediate concern is whether students are learning to understand the constitutional republic, including its remarkable achievements, or being encouraged to view its institutions primarily through the lens of historical oppression.
The American founders understood the dangers of concentrated political power and unchecked majority rule. They established a representative republic with divided powers, constitutional limitations, and protections for individual liberty. These institutions were imperfectly applied from the beginning, but they also provided mechanisms through which later generations fought to abolish slavery, expand citizenship, and secure civil rights. Students deserve to understand that history alongside the injustices that made those struggles necessary. The enduring question is whether contemporary historical education gives them the knowledge to evaluate and preserve their constitutional inheritance, or teaches them to regard that inheritance chiefly as a problem to be overcome.
From Education to Ideological Transformation
The influence of critical theory and Marxist-inspired approaches to education extends well beyond elementary and secondary schools. American universities now offer degrees, certificates, and professional training in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), social justice, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles.
At Penn State, a Social Justice certificate examines how unequal power relationships shape society. Northwestern University teaches students to analyze intersectionality and develop approaches to social change. More explicitly, the University of Massachusetts Amherst offers graduate courses titled Liberatory Pedagogies for Social Transformation and Confronting Oppression in Education. These are not fringe pamphlets circulating among student radicals. They are formal academic programs, including programs designed to train future educators.
Author James Lindsay, in The Marxification of Education (2022), traces these developments to the influence of Marxist and neo-Marxist thinkers, particularly the above-mentioned Brazilian Marxist and educator Paulo Freire. Lindsay argues that critical pedagogy transforms education from the transmission of knowledge into a means of developing political consciousness and promoting institutional change. These types of university programs explicitly describe social transformation as an educational objective.
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What our universities teach future educators, and what those educators pass on to our children, will determine how the next generation understands America’s history and its founding institutions. Children deserve to learn about the courage, determination, and extraordinary navigational achievement of a man who crossed the Atlantic in three small wooden ships more than five centuries ago, changing the course of human history. They deserve an education that inspires curiosity, ambition, and an appreciation for the achievements of those who came before them, not one that reduces every historical figure to a catalog of moral failures.
The Campaign to Remove Columbus from Public Life
The attack on Columbus has not been confined to textbooks, academic conferences, or political rhetoric. It has been carried into America’s public squares. A 2021 Washington Post and MIT analysis documented at least 40 Columbus monuments removed since 2018, with most removals occurring during the racial unrest of 2020 and 2021. Statues were toppled, vandalized, removed by municipal governments, or placed in storage. In Baltimore, demonstrators pulled down a Columbus statue and threw it into the harbor. Elsewhere, cities removed monuments that had stood for generations, sometimes over the objections of Italian-American communities that regarded Columbus as a symbol of their own immigrant heritage. The campaign represents something larger than a disagreement over one historical figure. It raises the question of whether Americans should confront the complexities of their history through education and debate, or whether political activists and public officials should decide which parts of that history are permitted to remain visible
Trump Draws a Line on Columbus Day
President Donald Trump has made the defense of Christopher Columbus and Columbus Day a direct challenge to the political left. In his October 11 Truth Social message, Trump condemned Democrats, socialists, and communists for tearing down Columbus statues, declaring that the “days of plunder are over.” His October 7 presidential proclamation went further, celebrating Columbus for his courage and contributions to the historical developments that eventually produced the United States.
Trump also highlighted the installation of a replica Columbus statue on the White House grounds, replacing a monument that rioters had destroyed in Baltimore on July 4, 2020. The symbolism is unmistakable. At a time when universities, activist organizations, and progressive politicians increasingly portray America’s historical inheritance as something to apologize for, the president is insisting that the nation’s history, heroes, and cultural foundations deserve to be honored rather than erased.
Columbus Day is an opportunity to celebrate the spirit of exploration and discovery, our nation’s historical inheritance, and the remarkable constitutional republic that eventually emerged in the New World. Christopher Columbus deserves to be remembered and celebrated.
Happy Columbus Day.
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Pluckrose, H., & Lindsay, J. (2020). Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything About Race, Gender, and Identity, and Why This Harms Everybody. Pitchstone Publishing.
Black Lives Matter, Civil Unrest, and Economic Damage
Story One: Will the Income Tax Stay at $1 Million?
Synopsis: Can a tax that starts with millionaires stay there?
The Seattle Times’ Jim Brunner reports some Democrats are already talking about expanding the new income tax. Brian Hansford argues the hard part is already done: the law builds the whole collection system, so lowering the threshold to $500,000 or $250,000 would take only a simple vote, and because it’s tied to federal adjusted gross income, retirement withdrawals could get caught later.
Tonya Stadlman notes Olympia has moved earmarked money before, shifting cigarette taxes meant for education and spirits taxes meant for cities into the General Fund, which is where the income tax money goes too. Jim Walsh shares a clip of a Democrat calling it a “tax on everyone,” and Ari Hoffman reports SEIU is helping fund the campaign to keep the tax.
Supporters say the law only reaches income over $1 million. Critics say promises don’t bind future legislatures.
From the Bookmarks:
Jim Brunner: “Will Dems expand WA’s ‘millionaires tax’? Some are already talking about it.”
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Synopsis: What happens if a noncitizen is registered to vote automatically and then votes?
Under RCW 29A.08.370, part of Washington’s 2018 automatic voter registration law, a person who is ineligible but gets registered through the system, without knowingly breaking the law, is “deemed to have performed an authorized act,” and voting afterward isn’t a crime unless they knew they weren’t entitled to vote.
EricaPNW asks what happened to the penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Supporters of the law say it protects people from prosecution for a state agency’s mistake. Critics say it removes the consequences that keep noncitizens off the rolls.
From the Bookmarks:
S.A. Dupres quotes the law: the person “shall be deemed to have performed an authorized act, and such act may not be considered as evidence of a claim to citizenship.”
Synopsis: Who checks that subsidized daycares actually have children?
The Center Square visited about three dozen subsidized daycares and found several with few or no children, yet Senate Republicans say the state never investigated.
State Auditor Pat McCarthy questioned $416 million in federal child care spending because the Department of Children, Youth, and Families couldn’t trace payments to providers. Her first full audit in years estimated $37 million in questionable payments.
The auditor says questioned costs don’t necessarily mean fraud, and she credits Gov. Bob Ferguson’s team with fixing the records so a full audit is finally possible. Critics say taxpayers deserve to know where the money went before Olympia asks for more.
From the Bookmarks:
WA Senate Republicans: state leaders “failed to investigate daycares with no children receiving taxpayer funds according to The Center Square.”
Future 42: “Washington state Auditor refuses to do her job, after millions of taxpayer dollars to suspect daycares were flagged by an investigative reporter.”
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The death of a worker at Russia’s Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute has fueled speculation about biological weapons, laboratory escapes, and a possible public-health catastrophe. Yet plague accounts for 80 to 100 reported deaths worldwide annually, and yes, occasionally deaths in the USA. Not very often, but it happens. There are slightly less than one death per year in the United States. Yes, we do have deaths from plague in the USA too – and they don’t normally make headline news.
One unexplained death warrants investigation. It does not justify frightening the public into purchasing antibiotics or other medical products.
However, I think the “one day – one death – worst bioweapon ever” fear mongering has finally ended. That is, until next time. And there will be a next time coming our way soon. Hantavirus yesterday, Pneumonic Plague today, tomorrow?
So get prepared, flu season is almost here!
I think Secretary of War Hegseth is doing a great job, but I don’t agree with this decision to live-stream this execution. However, this cartoon sparked a thought. In the context of ISIS and radical Islam, maybe his decision to air this publicly is not to send a message to Americans, but to our enemies overseas.
10 More Compelling Reasons to Vote Democrat in 2026
An original satirical list, in the spirit of The Babylon Bee.
1. You believe the Constitution is a living document, and it’s time to put it on life support. Two hundred and fifty years is a long time for a piece of paper to be telling politicians what they can’t do.
2. You miss being told to trust the science by people who refuse to debate it. Nothing says scientific consensus quite like censorship, professional blacklisting, and a government-funded fact-checker.
3. You believe the First Amendment is dangerously outdated. Free speech was a wonderful idea before ordinary Americans started using it.
4. You think Washington needs more unelected experts making decisions for you. Democracy is important, but some decisions are simply too important to leave to voters.
5. You miss the days when questioning government policy made you a domestic extremist. Life was so much simpler when disagreement could be diagnosed as misinformation.
6. You believe parents should have a say in their children’s education, provided they agree with the teachers’ unions. Otherwise, they’re clearly a threat to democracy.
7. You think pharmaceutical companies deserve another chance to save humanity. After all, there are still a few Americans who haven’t been prescribed something.
8. You believe the solution to every failed government program is a larger government program. If spending a trillion dollars didn’t solve the problem, imagine what spending two trillion could accomplish.
9. You miss the good old days when the intelligence agencies protected democracy by deciding what information voters were allowed to see. Elections are much safer when the electorate doesn’t know too much.
10. You believe democracy is so precious that it must be protected from the voters. Particularly the ones who keep voting for the wrong people.
Remember, if the Senate flips, all of Senator Ron Johnson’s hearings, with investigatory powers, end. Essentially, Senator Rand Paul’s gain-of-function hearings are no longer relevant. The ability to FOIA documents (and get them), subpoena witnesses and pursue criminal charges stops with the Senate majority going blue.
And people like Robert are already getting harassed by Senator Blumenthal – who is demanding answers to written questions that are none of his business about his and our personal lives- as he is preparing to take over Senator Johnson’s committee chair position.
Yep – Senator Blumenthal will become Chairman, Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), under the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. This position gives him significant investigative and oversight authority, including hearings, document requests, and subpoenas under applicable committee rules. He will use that position to go after medical freedom dissidents – and in Robert’s case, is already preparing to do so.
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Story One: Why Is Gas Cheaper in Ferry County Than in Seattle?
Synopsis: Why would gas cost less in a remote county far from any refinery?
The Bellingham Herald reports gas prices broke records in September, yet little Ferry County, served only by trucks, has some of the lowest prices in the state. Dangerous Rhetoric points to tribal stations: under Senate Bill 5272 (2007), tribes with fuel tax compacts collect the full 37.5-cent state gas tax, but the state refunds 75% of it, about 28 cents a gallon, and some tribes, like the Yakama Nation, are exempt entirely. “Just imagine if this tax reduction was given to YOU, Western WA.”
Chris Martz notes prices have risen everywhere since the Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz blockade, but blue states still run higher, mostly because of gas taxes and rules like California’s cap-and-trade.
Washington drivers are asking why Olympia isn’t suspending gas taxes the way Georgia did. Nationally, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin calls his power-sector rollback the largest deregulatory action in U.S. history, worth more than $300 billion, and promises oil and gas relief to lower prices at the pump.
The U.S. Oil & Gas Association says taxpayers have paid environmental groups more than $20 million since 2013 to sue the government and settle, and Bjorn Lomborg notes Europe closed 30 refineries and now has record-high diesel.
Supporters of climate rules say they push cleaner fuels. Supporters of common sense say there is no climate crisis to justify “going green,” and families shouldn’t have to pay for it at the pump.
From the Bookmarks:
Bellingham Herald: “Gas prices broke records in September. Which WA counties have cheapest options?”
U.S. Oil & Gas Association: “Since 2013, taxpayers have paid environmental groups more than $20 million to sue the federal government and then settle.”
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Story Two: Microsoft Suspended From the Green-Card Program
Synopsis: Should a company that lays off Americans keep sponsoring foreign workers for green cards?
Vice President JD Vance announced Thursday that Redmond-based Microsoft is suspended indefinitely from the Labor Department’s PERM program, which lets employers sponsor foreign workers for permanent residency. Vance said Microsoft laid off about 6,000 American workers last year while benefiting from 6,300 H-1B visas and nearly 3,000 green cards, and said no company has abused the system more. Adobe and six IT outsourcing firms were also suspended.
Workers keep their current H-1B status. Microsoft told reporters that most of its U.S. employees are Americans and that 80% of its H-1B applications last year were to extend or change the status of existing employees, not to hire new people.
Separately, the Labor Department’s inspector general launched a J-1 visa investigation of major universities. Supporters say American workers should come first. Microsoft says it follows the rules and pays some of the highest wages in the industry.
From the Bookmarks:
Beth Dutton: “6,000 laid off. 6,300 H-1B visas. Nearly 3,000 green cards. Redmond. … That’s a suspension. Not a conviction.”
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All those years ago, JFK knew. And he said it out loud. No wonder he was assassinated. Listen to this speech. He lays it out precisely & it is exactly what we are still facing today.
“We are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence — on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice.”
Read that again. Monolithic. Ruthless. Conspiracy.
This wasn’t some fringe radio host. This was the sitting President of the United States, on live television, telling the American people that a shadow network of power — operating through intelligence agencies, media complicity, and institutional capture — was working against the republic itself.
And then he said the quiet part out loud:
“Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed.”
Sound familiar?
This is why I track and share information from the Promethean Action Group, FYI. It is not just communism.
Financial security brings independence, peace of mind, and the freedom to make choices without constantly worrying about paying the bills. Debt, particularly high-interest debt, can become a trap that limits those choices and leaves families vulnerable when hard times come.
Living within your means, paying down debt, and building savings are not just sound financial practices. They are essential steps toward personal freedom and self-reliance.It is remarkably easy to spend your entire life chasing things that ultimately bring very little happiness.
We are taught to measure success by income, possessions, status, and others’ approval, yet rarely stop to consider what all that striving is costing us. There is nothing wrong with hard work, ambition, or financial security, but somewhere along the way, the pursuit of more can become a trap.
A bigger house means more expenses, a higher salary often means more responsibility, and the freedom we thought we were working toward keeps slipping further away.
Real wealth is having control over your own time, being present for the people you love, maintaining your health, and finding satisfaction in the life you have built.
There is a profound difference between making a living and actually living. And in the end, no amount of money can buy back the years spent pursuing things that never really mattered.
Jason Rantz on Seattle Red@jasonrantzExclusive: Snohomish County admits all 535,000 ballot envelopes say ‘Genereal Election’ after embarrassing proofreader mistakeseattlered.comSnohomish County ballot envelopes misspell general election
9:25 PM · Oct 12, 2026 · 13.2K Views65 Replies · 143 Reposts · 554 Likes
Election Integrity Network@EIwatchdogsA post-election manual audit compares a hand count of paper ballots with the results reported by electronic tabulators. Here’s how a precinct-based audit could work: 🗳️ After the election, precincts are randomly selected. 🎩 If there are 100 precincts, a 5% audit would select …
12:00 PM · Oct 12, 2026 · 1.16K Views5 Replies · 28 Reposts · 50 Likes
U.S. Department of Justice@TheJusticeDept🗳️ Today the Justice Department announced charges involving 16 individuals, including an illegal alien, in connection with illegal voting, fraudulent voter registration, and related election crimes across the country. The cases include: • Voting by aliens in federal elections …
1:32 PM · Oct 12, 2026 · 731K Views667 Replies · 2.84K Reposts · 9.42K Likes
Ari Hoffman@thehoffatherJohn Braun edges Marie Gluesenkamp Perez in new poll as Democrat faces fractured support “Absolutely no way, shape, or form will I support her.” kvi.com/2026/10/02/joh…
3:00 PM · Oct 12, 2026 · 2.06K Views2 Replies · 19 Reposts · 74 Likes
John Braun@votejohnbraunI have a proven record of getting things done in a bipartisan fashion in Olympia. Meanwhile, Marie has spent four years in office and has only passed one bill to rename a post office. The difference between me and my opponent is my ability to get things done. I’m running on my …
7:12 PM · Oct 12, 2026 · 1.1K Views9 Replies · 19 Reposts · 32 Likes
PNW Conservative@PNWConservativeToo many republicans and independents thought Reichert wasn’t “like them” enough. So they stayed home. And now we have Ferguson, billions of more in taxes, the second highest unemployment rate in the country, and now they are coming for your income. Don’t let the perfect be …
12:23 AM · Oct 13, 2026 · 7.54K Views63 Replies · 219 Reposts · 999 Likes
🇺🇸Washington State Facts ➕🇺🇸@TurnSeattleRed📍🚨 WASHINGTON TAXPAYERS: FOLLOW THE MONEY! WA’s ORIA budget grew from $35.1M in 2022 to a projected $105.2M in 2026 —> a 199% increase! That’s state + federal funding. PLUS $50M in state appropriations for migrant support in FY2026–27. Who is auditing the results?
6:32 PM · Oct 12, 2026 · 858 Views5 Replies · 31 Reposts · 54 Likes
Katie K USA@KimKatieUSA🛑 Another Juan Bites the Dust in Mill Creek, Washington 🛑 An illegal alien tried to outrun ICE agents in Mill Creek, Washington, and made it all the way to his door at the Heatherwood Apartments. He didn’t make it inside. In the end, another Juan bit the dust and left in …
5:16 PM · Oct 12, 2026 · 32K Views88 Replies · 489 Reposts · 2.55K Likes
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LISTEN NOW · 34:14
Jim Brunner@Jim_BrunnerNEW: Will Dems expand WA’s ‘millionaires tax’? Some are already talking about it seattletimes.com/seattle-news/p… via @seattletimesseattletimes.comWill Dems expand WA’s ‘millionaires tax’? Some are talking about it
4:41 PM · Oct 11, 2026 · 5.04K Views51 Replies · 10 Reposts · 78 Likes
Brian Hansford@remarkmarketingFIVE FACTS on Washington’s Income Tax: FACT 1. The INCOME TAX Engine Is Built (Title 82A RCW): The hardest part of passing an income tax is building the administrative machinery. ESSB 6346 creates the full infrastructure: tax definitions, tracking, enforcement, and auditing…5:43 PM · Oct 11, 2026 · 4.55K Views9 Replies · 30 Reposts · 88 Likes
Tonya Stadlman 🇺🇸✝️🥇@TonyaStadlmanWhat they said. What they did. 2005: Washington dedicated part of the cigarette tax to the Education Legacy Trust Account. 2011: Lawmakers moved that revenue to the General Fund, retroactive to July 1, 2010. The education account lost an estimated $145.7 million in the 2011-13 …
2:04 PM · Oct 10, 2026 · 11.9K Views37 Replies · 200 Reposts · 444 Likes
Jim Walsh@JimWalshLD19Weekend viewing. Here’s a short video snippet of another WA Democrat accidentally telling the truth about the Ferguson-Pedersen state income tax scheme: It’s a “tax on everyone.” WA Democrats are struggling when they talk about the Ferguson-Pedersen state income tax scheme…
Washington State GOP @WAGOPVOTE YES ON I-645 TO REPEAL THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL INCOME TAX. Dems are lying. It will apply to all households. Just ask @RepBerg who admitted that in a hearing earlier this week @RepJayapal. Here’s the clip where @RepBerg says the quiet part out loud. Share widely. Dems lie. https://t.co/QqD4s07rG85:27 PM · Oct 10, 2026 · 7.16K Views16 Replies · 270 Reposts · 546 Likes
3:00 AM · Oct 12, 2026 · 1.2K Views6 Replies · 22 Reposts · 51 Likes
Viet Q Nguyen@VietQNguyenWhen you’re damned by your own words. Democratic lawmakers’ promises aren’t worth much on this issue. Vote Yes on I-645
6:30 PM · Oct 11, 2026 · 350 Views1 Reply · 4 Reposts · 10 Likes
S.A. Dupres@Susan_DupresWashington State AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION Oct. 11, 2026 RCW 29A.08.370 – Automatic Registration – Registration of Person Ineligible to Vote app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.as… Citations: HB 2595 (2018): Concerning procedures in order to automatically register citizens to vote.…
EricaPNW @ForTheGoodRCW 29A.08.370 says that if a non-citizen is auto registered to vote, and then votes, they are “deemed to have performed an authorized act, and such act may not be considered as evidence of a claim to citizenship”. What happened to 5 years in prison and $10k fine?1:55 AM · Oct 12, 2026 · 479 Views1 Reply · 10 Reposts · 20 Likes
12:39 AM · Oct 12, 2026 · 1.55K Views8 Replies · 20 Reposts · 82 Likes
WA Senate Republicans@WashingtonSRCWhile far left WA State leaders passed record tax increases, they failed to investigate daycares with no children receiving taxpayer funds according to The Center Square. This is despite the issue being covered heavily in media. It was reported earlier this year that Governor …
2:58 AM · Oct 11, 2026 · 4.46K Views45 Replies · 318 Reposts · 607 Likes
Future 42@future42orgWashington state Auditor refuses to do her job, after millions of taxpayer dollars to suspect daycares were flagged by an investigative reporter. Auditor Pat McCarthy’s response to the reporter was to ‘send DCYF the information already publicly available on state government …
6:00 PM · Jul 7, 2026 · 19K Views55 Replies · 309 Reposts · 776 Likes
Bellingham Herald@BhamHeraldGas prices broke records in September. Which WA counties have cheapest options?bellinghamherald.comGas prices broke records in September. Which WA counties have cheapest options?
11:00 AM · Oct 5, 2026 · 249 Views1 Reply · 1 Like
Dangerous Rhetoric@nancydchurchillHow weird. According to this report, little Ferry County, which is far, far, far from refineries and railroads and only serviced by trucks running on expensive diesel… we have some of the lowest gas prices in the state? Perhaps gas price is also influenced by local property…
Chris Martz@ChrisMartzWXThis is one of my favorite charts. 📊 Regular gas prices in 🔴 states vs. 🔵 states. Gasoline prices have risen for everyone since the Iran War started in February. There is absolutely no doubt that the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz (which, as of the time I’m writing this, …
5:29 AM · Oct 7, 2026 · 51.7K Views96 Replies · 524 Reposts · 1.85K Likes
Curt J@TherealCurtJGas prices are coming down. $4.36 per gallon nationwide avg. States are removing gas taxes to help their economy and working people. Are house Dems considering this here in Wa.? Are dems trying to destroy our economy? @JimWalshLD19 @Susan_Dupresnbcnews.comTracking U.S., state and county gas prices, in maps and charts
7:20 PM · Oct 5, 2026 · 127 Views3 Replies · 1 Repost · 7 Likes
Lee Zeldin@epaleezeldinThe Trump EPA just delivered the LARGEST POWER SECTOR DEREGULATORY ACTION in U.S. history, with over $300 BILLION in savings for Americans. While simultaneously protecting our environment, we are unleashing reliable, durable, affordable baseload power and reversing the damage we …
10:57 PM · Oct 6, 2026 · 19.4K Views47 Replies · 455 Reposts · 1.71K Likes
US Oil & Gas Association@US_OGAWant to know why a bunch of these smaller enviro groups are so opposed to permitting reform? Because it is the equivalent of cutting off their USAID money. Since 2013, taxpayers have paid environmental groups more than $20 million to sue the federal government and then …
11:48 PM · Oct 6, 2026 · 30.6K Views19 Replies · 435 Reposts · 1.17K Likes
Bjorn Lomborg@BjornLomborgSelf-inflicted: Europe closed 30 refineries 2009-24 Now diesel is record-high compared to oil prices reuters.com/business/energ… workspace.refinitiv.com ice.com/products/34361… ice.com/products/219/B… data-api.ecb.europa.eu/service/data/E… ec.europa.eu/eurostat/datab… ec.europa.eu/eurostat/datab…
Javier Blas @JavierBlasEurope is finding itself sandwiched from all sides when it comes to refined products — diesel in particular (some of the damage is due to the US-Iran war; some is due to Ukraine-Russia; some is due to China, and a lot is self-inflicted). Policy response: Head in the sand.7:09 PM · Oct 1, 2026 · 259K Views130 Replies · 1.56K Reposts · 4.27K Likes
Rapid Response 47@RapidResponse47. @SecretaryWright on refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve: “We give you a barrel today, you give us one and a quarter barrels back a year from now — so we’re actually using these releases as a way to get the Strategic Petroleum Reserve more full than it was at the start.”
5:14 PM · Oct 5, 2026 · 72.4K Views48 Replies · 250 Reposts · 1.29K Likes
Beth Dutton@1BethDuttonVance just suspended Microsoft from the green-card program for H-1B workers. He says for every American they laid off, they brought in one and a half foreign workers. 6,000 laid off. 6,300 H-1B visas. Nearly 3,000 green cards. Redmond. No comment yet. That’s a suspension. Not a
3:08 PM · Oct 8, 2026 · 11K Views130 Replies · 184 Reposts · 899 Likes
Eric Daugherty@EricLDaugh🚨 BREAKING: VP JD Vance, flanked by Stephen Miller and AG Blanche, just walked out and announced a HISTORIC CRACKDOWN on H-1B and foreign visa fraud — SPECIFICALLY exposing Microsoft for laying off 6,000 US workers, despite hiring 6,300 H1B visas and 3,000 green cards WOW! …
2:20 PM · Oct 8, 2026 · 399K Views686 Replies · 5.7K Reposts · 23.7K Likes
DOL OIG@DOLOIG🚨 @USLaborIG : “I don’t care how prestigious a university thinks it is, break the law and screw the American people, and I will personally cuff you in the university square.” @DOLOIG just launched a MASSIVE J-1 visa investigation. The cuffs are coming.
4:09 PM · Oct 8, 2026 · 77.3K Views270 Replies · 1.26K Reposts · 6.06K Likes
2:45 PM · Oct 8, 2026 · 197K Views400 Replies · 4.64K Reposts · 14.2K Likes
Influencing Olympia Effectively
