Donald Trump Just Revealed The One Thing That Would Make Him Drop Out

While appearing as a guest on NBC’s Today on Tuesday morning, Trump revealed the one scenario under which he would leave the presidential race.

Host Matt Lauer pointed out to the billionaire candidate that his unrivaled place atop the GOP field seems to have changed with Ben Carson pulling within one point. A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released this week finds Trump at 21 percent support, Carson at 20, and Carly Fiorina and Marco Rubio also gaining ground, both polling at 11 percent.

Trump noted that even in that poll, he is still leading. Furthermore, “I’m leading every poll,” he said. “In Iowa, I’m leading substantially. In New Hampshire, I’m leading substantially. In South Carolina, I’m leading substantially.” 

“This is going to be an ebb and flow, how can I continue to lead by such wide margins?” the candidate asked. 

Lauer followed up, asking: “If the polls change and you are no longer the person everybody is talking about, Donald with all the great things going on in your life in other areas, do you have the stomach to stick this out?”

“I’m a practical person,” Trump responded. “If I see things aren’t going well, like for instance there are people right now in the Republican Party who are not doing well I don’t think it’s going to change for many of them, at some point you have to get out. Right now, I’m leading every poll…I get the biggest crowds by far. I had 20,000 in Dallas I had 35,000 people in Mobile, Alabama, you know so far it’s looking good…So I will go and if I think for some reason it’s not going to work, I’ll go back to my business.”

h/t: ABC News

More Political Correctness Censorship: This Time From NY Gilbert And Sullivan Players

The New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players (NYGASP) were going to perform The Mikado in December. But, according to WQXR, because of complaints of “perpetrating Japanese caricatures,” and because of not including actual Asian performers, the group has canceled their performances of The Mikado, and will instead perform The Pirates of Penzance.

C’mon, you ultra-sensitive nudniks out there; it’s only a show, it’s only a comic opera, a dramatization, for crying out loud. As Joan Rivers would say, Grow up!

In their announcement of this most recent caving to the extremists of the political correctness industry, NYGASP writes that they “never intended to give offense and the company regrets the missed opportunity to adapt its production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s 130-year-old satire of Victorian society to respond to contemporary criticism of some elements of traditional performance practice.”

Talk about nuts. You see, these are performances with actors. The actors don’t have to be of the same ethnic origin as their characters, as long as the actors are talented in portraying the characters they are supposed to portray. And also, some artistic works do “perpetrate ethnic caricatures” in one way or another. It’s only a play, or comedy. And Mikado is from 1885.

I can’t believe that so many people are so offended by this that they would write a letter or call this group to complain. There are so many thin-skinned people in America now, and in Europe as well, as we can see from the Europeans’ own idiotic “hate crimes” laws now. What a bunch of morons. (Ooops, I hope they don’t sue me for “hate.”)

And it’s one thing for NYGASP to apologize for possibly offending someone (or presenting a show which someone perceived to be “offensive”), but it’s another thing to actually cancel the whole thing.

Even the Metropolitan Opera went on with the show, with their performances of The Death of Klinghoffer (which one could argue has much more potential to elicit hurt or offense than The Mikado). The Met went on with the show despite complaints, the massive letter-writing campaign, the push for censorship, the push to have that production closed down, and the protesters with signs outside the opera house. (And those protesters and calls for censorship tend to be from the conservative side of things. After they constantly criticize college campuses for intolerant speech codes, and criticize the whole political correctness industry, the conservatives — and “liberals,” too — then go on to try to suppress any criticism or negative portrayal of Israel as possible. Hypocrites. But I digress.)

So the Met courageously goes on with the show, but New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players cave to the thought police and they self-censor. That’s life in the 21st Century, the Era of Ultra-Thin-Skinnedness.

This commentary originally appeared at Scott’s blog.

The views expressed in this opinion article are solely those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by WesternJournalism.com.

Mark Levin Saw Trump’s New Tax Plan And Made A Big Announcement About It

Radio talk show host Mark Levin praised most of what he sees in Donald Trump’s tax plan, saying on Monday’s program: “Ronald Reagan could have proposed exactly this plan.” 

Levin, who served in multiple posts in the Reagan administration, said that if the U.S. adopted Trump’s tax proposal, “our economy will explode with growth” like that seen under the Gipper, when the GDP grew one-third larger as the economy expanded at its largest rate since World War II.

The talk show host explained some of the specifics of the plan:

From seven tax brackets to four. And the top rate is 25%. The top rate now is 39.6%, but for some people it actually winds up being 43% thanks to the deal the Republicans made with Obama a few years ago. So, the Republican establishment types – the Bushies, the Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) guys – they really have no complaint here, because while they voted to increase the top level to 39.6, and in some cases 43%, 25% would be the top rate under the Trump plan – and I would remind you I think it was 27% under Reagan. [It was 28 percent, reduced from a top rate of 70 percent.] 

 

Image Credit: DonaldJTrump.com

Image Credit: DonaldJTrump.com

Levin also pointed out that the businessman’s proposal cuts the corporate tax rate “from 35% and, in some cases, 39.6% depending on the business type, to 15%. Can you imagine the amount of economic growth that would occur in this country?”

The conservative firebrand also praised Trump’s plan to repatriate the estimated $2.5 trillion in American companies’ cash sitting offshore. Levin explained that current U.S. tax laws encourage businesses to keep their profits out of the country to avoid double taxation. The money is earned in other countries, and companies pay taxes locally. “If they repatriate it, or bring it back to the United States, however, they are taxed on it again. We’re the only major developed, industrial nation that does that to our own businesses,” he charged.

Many economists believe returning this money to the United States would be a major boon to the economy. Trump has proposed a one-time tax of 10 percent on those funds, rather than the current 35 percent tax rate.

Levin really only had one main criticism of Trump’s plan. “This is where I have a disagreement with Donald Trump. Everyone, pretty much, ought to pay something in taxes, so they can’t just vote over and over again to raise somebody’s else’s taxes.” He added people need to know there is a consequence if they decide to vote into office a Big Government liberal. “They need to know, you cannot legalize theft and rip off your neighbor. You’re going to rip off yourself.  Everybody should pay some tax. Period.”

That aside, he affirmed “this a pretty d–n good plan.”

h/t: Breitbart

A Forensic Analysis Just Revealed The TRUTH About The Planned Parenthood Vids

Undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood executives and employees discussing the process and profits of harvesting fetal tissue “are authentic and show no evidence of manipulation or editing,” according to a new in-depth analysis.

Since the release of the videos from The Center for Medical Progress, cutting off Planned Parenthood’s millions of dollars in government subsidies is a top priority for many conservatives.

Alliance Defending Freedom engaged Coalfire Systems, a cybersecurity and forensic analysis company, to examine the 10 videos put out by the pro-life group Center for Medical Progress. The videos, shot in Planned Parenthood’s around the country, show PP officials discussing how the organization makes money from harvesting fetal tissue that is allegedly used in research.

“The Coalfire forensic analysis removes any doubt that the full length undercover videos released by Center for Medical Progress are authentic and have not been manipulated,” said ADF Senior Counsel Casey Mattox said in a statement.

“Analysts scrutinized every second of video recorded during the investigation and released by CMP to date and found only bathroom breaks and other non-pertinent footage had been removed.”

“Planned Parenthood can no longer hide behind a smokescreen of false accusations and should now answer for what appear to be the very real crimes revealed by the CMP investigation,” Mattox said.

The revelation came as the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee began a hearing on Planned Parenthood.

Committee Chair Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said the mammoth organization does not need federal funding.

“Their desire for more of taxpayer dollars is just insatiable,” Chaffetz said.

Chaffetz argued that Planned Parenthood “doesn’t need a federal subsidy,” citing the millions it has spent on travel and parties and “fairly exorbitant salaries.” Instead, many propose that the money that would otherwise go to Planned Parenthood should go to Women’s Health Clinics that do comprehensive heath care, without abortions.

“We don’t spend enough on cancer. We don’t spend enough. We need to spend more,” he said as he began to attack Planned Parenthood, which takes in about a half-billion dollars in federal funding each year.

h/t: Fox News

Police Chief Responds To Atheist Outrage Over ‘In God We Trust’ With 4 Words That Silence Them

A Texas police chief has a one sentence response to an atheist group that demanded he remove the nation’s motto “In God We Trust” from his squad cars, which eloquently culminates with, “go fly a kite.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation recently sent a demand letter to Childress Police Chief, Adrian Garcia, calling for the removal of the motto from the vehicles arguing that it is a violation of the separation of church and state.

The chief did not waste words in his response. Addressing the letter “Dear Annie,” he wrote:

After carefully reading your letter I must deny your request in the removal of our Nations [sic] motto from our patrol units, and ask that you and the Freedom From Religion Foundation go fly a kite.

Garcia posted the letter to the Childress PD Facebook page, and it has garnered over 74,000 “Likes” and 62,000 shares in less than 24 hours.

One person commented: “Thank you Chief Garcia for standing up for what is right. God Bless America.” Another wrote: “I need to find an “In God We Trust” window decal for my car…And thank you Childress for standing up to those few who want to take our rights away!” 

Image Credit: Facebook/Childress Police Department

Image Credit: Facebook/Childress Police Department

Earlier this month, the police chief shared a picture of the department’s Facebook page with one of the units with the motto on it. “Please excuse the dirty unit. I had to share this with the public. Notice what I will be putting on all Childress Police patrol units.”

Other police departments around the country have followed Garcia’s lead and shared pictures on the Childress PD page of their vehicles emblazoned with the prodigious motto.

 

Image Credit: Facebook/Hutchinson County Sheriff's Office

Image Credit: Facebook/Hutchinson County Sheriff’s Office

The U.S. Supreme Court has consistently found the displaying the nation’s motto does not violate the First Amendment’s establishment of religion clause.

h/t: TheBlaze