With the midterm elections approaching, data centers have become an increasingly popular political target. Politicians are raising alarms about their impact on communities, with some calling for construction moratoriums or outright bans.

There's been plenty of fearmongering. But, the more Americans learn about data centers, and the more communities experience their benefits firsthand, the stronger the case for continued development becomes.

Data centers have existed for decades, but the rapid growth of artificial intelligence has dramatically increased the demand for computing power. Americans understandably have questions about what this development means for electricity prices, water supplies, and their quality of life. Newer facilities are increasingly being designed with technologies that can address these concerns, including closed-loop cooling systems and quieter operations.

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Yet much of the national debate overlooks what data centers are already delivering to communities across America.

Take Ellendale, North Dakota, a town of 1,100 people. Before Applied Digital's new $11 billion data center development, the town collected roughly $400,000 annually in sales taxes. In the first seven months of 2026 alone, that figure jumped to $3.5 million.

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That revenue is helping the city repave its roads and renovate its senior center. A historic opera house is being restored. For a small town, this kind of investment can transform the community for generations.

And Ellendale is far from alone.

Schools across America are seeing enormous benefits from the data center boom.

In Richland Parish, Louisiana, Meta's massive investment has helped fund an increase in annual teacher bonuses ranging from $10,000 to $50,000.

Think about what that means for a working family. Teachers who have dedicated their careers to educating children are receiving a life-changing financial benefit, while the school district becomes an attractive destination for talented educators.

It's hard to imagine a politician campaigning against higher teacher pay or better schools. Yet those are precisely the kinds of benefits communities stand to lose when development gets blocked.

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The benefits extend to homeowners struggling with the rising cost of living.

In Loudoun County, Virginia, data centers generate 45 percent of county revenue. That enormous tax base has allowed local officials to cut homeowner property tax rates every year for a decade.

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In neighboring Henrico County, local leaders used data center revenue to fund a $60 million Affordable Housing Trust Fund, helping young families and first-time buyers purchase homes.

At a time when housing affordability is dominating political conversations, building data centers is helping some communities make the American Dream a little easier to achieve.

Electricity prices are another major concern, and understandably so. Families are already struggling with higher utility bills, and the arrival of a major new industrial customer can raise legitimate questions about who pays for new infrastructure.

But the enormous, predictable electricity demand from data centers also creates opportunities to finance new generation and grid investments, spreading infrastructure costs across a larger customer base.

In Georgia, agreements involving new large electricity customers, including OpenAI, are projected to lower residential power bills by $180 annually by 2029.

With the right arrangements in place, the arrival of data centers can mean lower costs for the families already living in these communities.

And the benefits extend well beyond tax revenue and household expenses.

Trade unions have been among the most vocal supporters of data centers because of the good-paying jobs they create. Building these facilities requires years of work for skilled tradesmen, with new projects creating opportunities for the next generation of American workers.

In Baltimore, Maryland, IBEW Local 24 expanded its membership by 50 percent alongside data center construction. In Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, IBEW Local 163 doubled its ranks following construction of an Amazon data center.

Politicians have spent decades promising to bring back good-paying blue-collar jobs. Here is an industry creating enormous demand for exactly those workers.

Of course, developers have a responsibility to work with residents and local governments to address legitimate concerns. Communities deserve clear answers about electricity costs and water use. They should also understand how the investments taking place in their backyards will benefit local families.

But, when data centers are developed responsibly, the economic benefits can be enormous. Communities are rebuilding roads and improving schools. Homeowners are seeing lower tax burdens, and skilled workers are finding new opportunities.

For decades, politicians have campaigned on championing the Forgotten Man and bringing economic opportunity back to communities that have struggled to attract investment.

Now, data centers are delivering billions of dollars in private investment to many of those very places.

We're watching a new industrial boom take shape across America, creating jobs and revitalizing communities that Washington has spent decades promising to help. Before politicians rush to stop it, they ought to take a serious look at what those communities are gaining.

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And they should consider what their constituents stand to lose.

In my first career, I stood in courtrooms as a defense attorney dealing intimately with the fallout of organized crime and gang violence. I have cross-examined operatives, analyzed thousands of pages of gang intelligence and witnessed firsthand the brutal efficiency of transnational syndicates. If my time immersed in the legal trenches of the gang world taught me one undeniable truth, it is this: cartels do not respect international borders. In fact, they weaponize them. For too long, the jurisdictional lines on a map have served as the greatest defense strategy for the world's most violent criminal organizations.

We have treated multinational, multibillion-dollar criminal enterprises as localized law enforcement problems. Fortunately, the landscape of international justice is shifting. The U.S.-led "Shield of the Americas" initiative, which recently designated eight major criminal groups as foreign terrorist organizations, is fundamentally rewriting the playbook on how we dismantle these syndicates.

There remains one critical holdout, Brazil, whose president is not expected to join this critical coalition. Indeed, the reelection of incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva all but ensures an increase in organized criminal activity in Brazil.

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The reality of the modern syndicate

To understand the necessity of this initiative, one must understand how modern cartels operate. In the courtroom, you quickly realize that the street-level gang members, like the MS-13 triggermen or the Tren de Aragua enforcers, can be the lowest rung on a massive, sophisticated corporate ladder.

These organizations operate with the logistical precision of Fortune 500 companies. They manage complex supply chains, launder money through intricate global financial networks and employ specialized cells for enforcement, distribution and corruption.

At times, our legal framework has been outmatched by their agility. A drug shipment might originate in the Andes, be financed through a front company in Central America and be distributed by local gangs in American cities. When law enforcement attempts to build a case, they can hit a variety of bureaucratic obstacles and challenges sharing evidence, securing extraditions or tracing illicit funds across different countries. The cartels know this and deliberately structure their operations to exploit operational disconnects between regional governments.

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The power of the terrorist designation

By officially designating eight major cartels and gangs, including the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and Tren de Aragua, as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists, the U.S. government dramatically altered the legal reality.

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The terrorist designation unlocks a completely different enforcement arsenal. It allows for the immediate freezing of assets, imposes severe penalties for anyone providing "material support" and authorizes deep, aggressive disruption of their financial networks.

You cannot arrest your way out of a cartel problem – you must disrupt the business itself. By targeting their money and imposing serious consequences on the seemingly legitimate financial institutions that launder it, the Shield of the Americas strikes at the absolute core of cartel power. It equips law enforcement to fight proactively and focus on strategic dismantling of cartel financial infrastructure.

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Hemispheric intelligence and military coordination

Equally crucial is the initiative’s mandate for unprecedented intelligence sharing and military coordination. Currently, countries like Argentina, El Salvador, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay and Chile are participating in the Shield of the Americas.

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This will help break down silos where one law enforcement agency has one piece of the puzzle, while authorities in Colombia or El Salvador hold the rest. Without a streamlined mechanism to share that data, the kingpins remain untouchable.

The Shield of the Americas facilitates the real-time sharing of actionable intelligence among partner nations. This means that a cartel operative’s communications intercepted in Lima could be instantly used to disrupt a trafficking route in Central America and ultimately support a federal indictment in New York. Furthermore, joint military coordination ensures that the sheer firepower of these cartels could be matched.

The Brazilian loophole

The final critical piece of this initiative is Brazil, South America’s largest nation.

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Brazil is a continent-sized nation with its own deeply entrenched criminal organizations, most notably the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and the Comando Vermelho. These groups have grown into major forces in the global drug trade, forging alliances with international cartels and expanding their reach far beyond Brazilian borders. Unfortunately, the current government has abstained from joining the U.S.-led effort, which is expected to continue in light of the recent presidential election.

Brazil’s participation would have a tremendous impact. The cartels would lose one of their most significant safe havens and operational hubs in the hemisphere. A unified front stretching from the U.S.-Mexico border down to the Southern Cone would squeeze transnational syndicates from every direction. It would close the geographical and jurisdictional gaps they have exploited for generations.

The human cost of cartel operations is staggering. Hundreds of thousands of American lives have been lost to cartel-linked fentanyl overdoses, while communities across Latin America have been destabilized by extreme violence and corruption.

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The Shield of the Americas represents a profound modernization of our approach to international justice. By recognizing these cartels for the global terror threats they are, strangling their finances and uniting the hemisphere's law enforcement and military resources, we are finally fighting the battle on equal footing.

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If more nations commit to this alliance, we will not just be managing the cartel problem; we will be systematically dismantling it. The cartels have operated globally for decades. It is long past time the law did the same.

What lit a fire under billionaire SpaceX CEO Elon Musk this midterm cycle?

He’s given more than $445 million to Republican candidates and causes this year, making him the single biggest disclosed donor in the 2026 midterms — and the biggest single donor in a midterm cycle ever.

According to the most recent data, he’s given:

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• An estimated $189 million to support Ken Paxton’s Senate bid in Texas.
• $10 million to the Republican Governors Association campaign fund, including funds for the gubernatorial race in New York State.
• At least $5 million to the GOP PAC MAGA Inc., which is building a strong ground game in key races in both the House and Senate.

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All this makes the $288 million Musk gave to help elect President Donald Trump and Republicans in 2024 look miserly.

Why so much more? Because Musk realizes that keeping the Republican majority in Congress has become crucial to America’s secure and prosperous future.

On his social media platform, Musk shared a post last week agreeing that Democrats "must lose" the midterms. Critics claim he’s doing this because he fears investigations by a Democrat-controlled Congress. The truth is, he understands what it takes to build a strong America, and what threatens to tear it down.

He’s not alone. He’s been joined by other tech and financial billionaires who are spending tens of millions to protect America’s future from the Democrats.

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Tech entrepreneurs and venture capital giants Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz are major contributors to Trump’s MAGA, Inc.

Citadel’s Ken Griffin has spent at least $40 million to support Republican candidates.

Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman and his wife Christine have put up almost $32 million to Republican-affiliated political organizations and Super PACs this election cycle.

It’s not just tech billionaires who’ve opened their wallets to the GOP. Uline founders Elizabeth and Richard Uihlein have reportedly put up $124 million for their own Restoration of America PAC, and roofing company ABC Supply Chairman Diane Hendricks has given $25 million to MAGA, Inc.

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In 2025, we saw the denizens of America’s high-tech sector — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Apple’s Tim Cook, and key Google executives — paying out millions for Trump’s inauguration festivities. Bezos, Cook, Zuckerberg and OpenAI’s Sam Altman even attended the inauguration in person — as did Elon Musk.

What did they understand about Trump and the GOP that the media didn’t?

This midterm cycle, according to The Washington Post, total Republican-leaning mega-donors have contributed $1.7 billion this cycle with Musk leading the way, compared to $832 million from Democratic-leaning givers.

Critics dismiss these donors as superrich oligarchs and robber barons trying to protect their ill-gotten money. Critics are wrong, tragically wrong. The truth is, the key stewards of our private sector economy are taking bold action to protect America’s future.

That’s because they see two possible paths to the future, and only two. One makes America strong, prosperous and secure, with tax cuts, investment, energy dominance and a strong, unequaled military.

One deals finally with the Iran that has destabilized the Middle East, and killed thousands around the world, including American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, for four decades.

One sees the need to cut what the GAO says could be as much as $500 billion of fraud from the federal budget — the cause that rallied Elon Musk to the DOGE agenda in the first place.

One sees American AI dominance as key to protecting our freedom.

One sees restoring America’s manufacturing and industrial base, as key to protecting prosperity.

All that stands on one side. On the other is a party that makes unsustainable policy promises like "Medicare for All."

A party that will give back the uncontrolled government spending spree that drove cumulative inflation up 21% during the Biden years.

A party cradled in corruption, waste and fraud, as exposed first by DOGE and now by Vice President JD Vance’s anti-fraud task force.

A party that has consistently presented weakness and prevarication to America’s foes, whether it’s Iran or China or the Muslim Brotherhood.

Finally, a party that threatens to mobilize the same radical forces that have turned the streets of France and European cities into battlegrounds.

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The choice is clear to Elon Musk, and our private sector’s best and brightest founders and entrepreneurs. Those 77 million Americans who voted for Donald Trump in 2024, now face the same choice. It is either to return to the voting booth in order to protect America’s safe and prosperous future or hand Congress over to those who want to bring back a bankrupt and discredited past.

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The choice seems easy. It will be America’s tragedy, and ours, if we don’t take it together.

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We have come to expect sanctimony mixed with hypocrisy from Barack Obama. But his latest endeavor turns out to be a doozy.

Preaching his usual moral superiority, the former president recently took to social media to inveigh against the current president for targeting Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota with a criminal investigation. He called it "appalling."

Obama should have sat this one out at his luxurious spread on Martha’s Vineyard.

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Lo and behold, he did the same thing when he was president. And Omar was the target. But, of course, the probe was kept under wraps. Until now.

Reporting by The New York Times reveals that Obama’s Department of Homeland Security and the FBI did a deep dive in the summer of 2016 into whether Omar entered into a sham marriage with her alleged brother, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, to enable him to secure a green card.

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Brace yourself for the result. That investigation "found some evidence that it was fraudulent," according to the Times.

Accusations of marriage fraud have long dogged Omar, who has consistently dismissed them as politically driven and a right-wing conspiracy. So much for that argument.

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The latest investigation that culminated in a judicially ordered search of Omar’s home on October 12, 2026, reportedly encompasses not only the suspect marriage but troubling questions over whether she ran afoul of the law by using a fake name and false birth date to obtain citizenship. A separate investigation is examining her financial transactions.

The Obama-era inquiry did not end because of insufficient evidence. Instead, the Times divulges that it was shelved "because prosecutors concluded that the potential crime, a felony, fell outside a five-year statute of limitations." The newspaper’s story relied on statements by current and former officials with knowledge of the first case.

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That decision to mothball any legal action against Omar makes little sense, unless one factors in political favoritism by Obama and his prosecutorial cohorts.

It is true that marriage fraud is a federal felony governed by a five-year statute of limitations under 8 U.S.C. § 1325(c). However, the clock runs from the last overt act of fraud or submission of false documents, not the date of the wedding ceremony itself in 2009.

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Taking steps to later obtain a green card would qualify as an overt act, as would document fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1546). So, too, would any act to cover up a sham marriage or efforts to conceal it. Indeed, it would constitute additional crimes such as conspiracy (18 U.S.C. § 371) and obstruction of justice or obstruction of proceedings (18 U.S.C. §§ 1505 and 1512).

Elmi abandoned his quest for a green card and left the U.S. for London sometime in 2011 when disturbing questions reportedly arose over his application. His actions and any misrepresentations associated with Omar might have brought the case within the permissible statute of limitations.

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But never mind all of that.

Obama’s DHS and DOJ could have pursued a simpler approach under civil (not criminal) immigration fraud. Orchestrating a scheme to illegally obtain U.S. immigration status or benefits carries severe legal consequences. There is no statute of limitations.

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If the Obama administration had chosen this logical course, it could have led to Omar’s denaturalization and subsequent deportation. The standard of proof is "clear and convincing evidence," much lower than in criminal prosecutions.

It is unclear, but curious, why this legal road was never taken. We only know that authorities under Obama shuttered the case and buried the investigation. Preferential treatment? Political cronyism? It has the unmistakable stench.

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This makes Obama’s social media screed against President Trump even more outlandish. Trump is doing what Obama did, except that Trump’s administration has expanded the Omar inquiry into areas where the former president’s prosecutors refused to go.

They should have gone there.

Obama’s harangue on X accused Trump of selectively targeting Omar without ever disclosing that his own administration investigated her first. That was dishonesty by omission. A mere oversight? Doubtful.

Obama also pronounced as true certain facts about Omar’s age that may not be true at all. He declared with absolute confidence that she was 17 years old when she applied as a minor for derivative citizenship based on her father’s citizenship.

But her age and birth date are still very much in dispute. Her autobiography and other documents undermine Obama’s claim, indicating that Omar may have been an adult of 18 years and legally ineligible for the type of citizenship that she procured. If she or her father made false statements or committed fraud, it would nullify her citizenship and could lead to removal from the U.S.

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This is not an "unsubstantiated theory," as Obama asserts in his social media post.

The former president accuses Trump of "intimidation" and laments that he is deploying "the full weight of the federal government" to bring down "a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president." Spare us the duplicitous pearl-clutching.

Obama expressed no moral outrage when his successor, Joe Biden, targeted his political opponent with criminal indictments. Going back further to his own presidency, Obama’s dirty fingerprints were all over the initial stages of the government’s damaging investigation of Trump in the phony collusion scandal.

Obama seems to think that Americans are simpletons with anterograde amnesia. It resembles contempt.

The New York Times report exposes Obama’s glaring double standard for what it is — a transparently insincere attack based on shallow evidence. This comes as no surprise.

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Obama always seems confident in his righteousness in an irritatingly pious way. Ever the charlatan, he pretends to be holier-than-thou. Sometimes the truth catches up with him.

But don’t expect Obama to change now that his hypocrisy has been revealed. That would require earnest introspection.

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The California Post endorses Steve Hilton for governor.

Hilton has run an impressive and bold campaign.

The Republican has introduced new ideas that even some Democrats have embraced, like allowing Californians to pay no taxes on income up to $150,000.

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He has also urged California to lower fuel prices by getting rid of high gas taxes and the costly "green energy" policies that add massive costs to household budgets without doing anything for the planet.

On housing, Hilton has urged California to build out, not up, returning to the single-family homes that people want — not ugly high-rises.

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And Hilton has stood up to the madness on the transgender issue, defending the rights of girls in sports and the rights of parents to know what is going on with their children.

Despite the odds stacked against him, Hilton has worked tirelessly across the state, even going to Skid Row and "fentanyl alley" to show the consequences of decades of bad policy in Sacramento.

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His opponent, Democrat Xavier Becerra, was nobody’s first choice in the primary. Even former Obama administration staffers were appalled that he might move ahead to the general election.

Close Obama advisor Susan Rice once called Becerra an idiot, a remark she did not deny even when backing her party’s nominee.

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Becerra is simply an empty suit. He has failed upwards his entire political career.

Becerra was a do-nothing congressman in Washington. Then he became California’s attorney general when Kamala Harris left, despite his dormant law license. He was invisible as Joe Biden’s HHS secretary, and has no real achievements to speak of, despite decades of involvement in politics.

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The stakes could not be higher. The California dream is falling apart.

Yes, we still have the fourth-biggest economy in the world. But we also lead the nation in poverty and homelessness.

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Businesses that started here are leaving the state, taking jobs with them. That’s especially true in Hollywood, which is losing tens of thousands of jobs.

For 16 years, Democrats have done whatever they wanted to in California, and the results are a disaster.

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We have watched the California dream being trampled by the politics of extremism, envy and division. Our big cities have been trashed by rioters. And now socialists want to take over.

While our politicians lecture us about climate change, they allow hundreds of thousands of acres to burn in wildfires every year, erasing all the gains in emissions, and causing untold misery to tens of thousands of homeowners.

Fraud is rampant throughout our government programs, even as spending is out of control.

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Our infrastructure is crumbling, our schools are failing and nobody in Sacramento seems to want to do anything about it.

We are seeing the results of nearly two decades of one-party misrule. And the Democrats have given us a candidate who promises to change nothing.

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As Becerra said during the recent debate: the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result.

This year, California voters have a real choice.

In 2020, Atlanta police investigated 157 homicides, up from 99 the year before. That was the most the city had seen in more than two decades, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The next year was worse. Shootings climbed right along with the killings. Even CNN couldn't ignore it. It reported that by early July 2020, Atlanta had logged 282 shooting incidents, up 19% from the same point a year earlier, citing Atlanta police data. By June 2021, the number of people shot in the city was up another 38%.

More than 200 officers left the Atlanta Police Department in 2020 alone. Then-Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms did not have the backs of the Atlanta police, nor did she have the backs of Atlanta's most vulnerable citizens who depended on her for their safety. Her tenure as mayor left the city reeling as crime exploded and hundreds were killed. That is a serious dereliction of duty.

And as the bodies piled up, what did Bottoms offer? She pointed to the pandemic. She pointed to gun laws. In a national television interview, she pointed at Republican Gov. Brian Kemp for reopening Georgia's bars and nightclubs. Meanwhile, residents of Buckhead were so fed up that they launched a movement to break away from the city altogether.

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With that list of failures, she wants to convince Georgians she's the right candidate to be governor. Folks, that's a terrible idea, and it would be laughable if it weren't for the fact that, on her watch, hundreds ended up in the cemetery. Georgia cannot afford to risk this. Atlanta's families found out the hard way what kind of mayor they had.

Bottoms spent part of her early childhood traveling the world as the daughter of a famous R&B singer. Republican nominee for governor Rick Jackson spent his in Atlanta's Techwood Homes, America's first public housing project, where his family relied on welfare. He didn't learn about struggling neighborhoods from the newspapers. He lived it. He never met his father, and his mother was a waitress with a sixth-grade education. At 13, he entered foster care, moving through five foster homes and 13 schools before the right foster family came into his life and showed him what love and stability looked like.

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From there, he built Jackson Healthcare from the ground up into one of the largest healthcare staffing firms in the country, a company that now reports more than $3 billion in annual revenue. A man who once depended on public assistance, lived in the projects and went through multiple foster homes can speak to the issues that affect everyday Georgians from lived experience. That sets him apart in a way Bottoms can't match.

Jackson's public safety plan reads like it was written by someone who has listened to cops and crime victims. I hear from those families constantly through the Caldwell Institute for Public Safety, which I founded after my innocent brother Christian was murdered in Chicago.

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What they ask for is simple: evidence that gets processed, offenders who stay off the street and leaders who take trafficking seriously. Jackson's plan answers all three. He has pledged to invest in additional certified crime labs so evidence stops sitting on shelves while victims wait and dangerous offenders stay on the street. His plan calls for a statewide law enforcement division with one mission: ending child sex trafficking in Georgia. He has promised tax relief for law enforcement officers and veterans.

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Georgia has a clear choice on Nov. 3. One candidate has already been tested by a crime crisis and answered with failure after failure. The other has spent a lifetime proving that where you start doesn't determine where you finish, and he has a plan to make every Georgia neighborhood safer.

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Georgia doesn't need a governor who wants the title. It needs one who is willing to put in the work. That's Rick Jackson.

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Editor's note: This op-ed is part of a series by Eli Steele exploring White guilt in America and the West. Steele is the director of the newly released documentary essay, "White Guilt." See the film at WhiteGuiltFilm.com.

When I was a student at Claremont McKenna College in the 1990s, Morris Dees, the co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, came to speak. Over the years, I have forgotten what he spoke about, but what I do remember is seeing his gun when he adjusted his sports coat. It was the kind of gun that Clint Eastwood carried in "Dirty Harry," only Dees's was burnished silver, with the deep grooves of a six-shooter. Before the speech, he was billed as the man who took on the Ku Klux Klan, and the gun made the legend real. But to those of us in that room, the gun said something more. It told us that racism was alive and thriving, and that Dees needed that gun as a hedge against an evil that might attack at any moment.

Now we have learned that the legend Dees and the SPLC crafted and protected over the years has cost certain Americans their bank accounts.

In August 2024, the SPLC published an article that dismissed complaints from several Christian groups about debanking. The SPLC writer, R.G. Cravens, struck an accusatory tone against the Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom and said it "perpetuated a false conspiracy theory that claims big government and big corporations are victimizing conservative Christians."

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On Oct. 14, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released a 47-page report on debanking at the nine largest banks it supervises. Regulators reviewed nearly 100,000 complaints and approximately 420,000 pages of bank records. The report found that four of those banks, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, PNC and TD Bank, referenced the SPLC while closing accounts or denying loans to conservative and religious customers.

The report's details are far more damning than the summary. WePay, a subsidiary of JPMorgan, screened customers against a list of terms that included "MAGA," "America First" and the names of SPLC-designated "hate groups." In July 2021, WePay closed an account that was raising money for a "devout Christian's" legal challenge to anti-discrimination laws.

In another case, PNC refused a line of credit to a media company because one owner's foundation "has funded several Christian conservative groups, including several identified as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center." A PNC employee explained, "I think it becomes really difficult to justify aligning ourselves with a company whose owners have built very public personas around opinions very contrary to PNC's beliefs/values."

What struck me was that none of these banks checked whether what the SPLC alleged was true. The regulators found that "mere allegations, negative press or negative reviews contributed to some banks declining to serve average Americans, even in the absence of any validation of the underlying facts or concerns."

It is hard to be shocked these days, but we must recover that ability. Why would a bank let an advocacy group decide who gets an account, without verification of any sort?

It wasn't long before I found the answer in the report: "Fear of being on the wrong side of public opinion led at least one bank to distance itself from certain customer affiliations that could possibly be viewed as partisan." The banks had labeled them a "reputation risk."

My father, Shelby Steele, has a better name for it: White guilt. He has spent forty years on this question. To paraphrase him, White guilt is the eternal drive by many Whites, especially those on the left, to prove their innocence of racism, to show over and over that they are not complicit in America's historical racial sins.

It is this drive that gives White guilt its transactional nature. In order to be able to buy innocence, someone has to have the innocence to sell. And to sell innocence, you need to possess moral authority when it comes to racial matters. The SPLC earned this moral authority in the deep south when it helped integrate the Alabama state troopers and sued the Klan after violent attacks.

But the White guilt machine needs a never-ending supply of hate. If racism begins to fade, then what innocence is there to sell?

MOMS GROUP LABELED ‘EXTREMIST’ FLIPS SCRIPT ON SPLC AFTER FEDERAL INDICTMENT: 'SHUT IT DOWN'

And the Klan ranks had been thinning for years. By the SPLC's own count, the number of Klan groups fell from 130 in 2016 to 72 a year later. The SPLC’s director of its Intelligence Project said they seemed to be "collapsing."

As the Klan shrank, the SPLC knew that it had to manufacture racism, and it did this by widening the definition of what could be counted as hateful and racist. It created the "Hate Map", which put mainstream Christian groups like the Family Research Council and Alliance Defending Freedom alongside the Ku Klux Klan and the Aryan Brotherhood. In 2021, it counted 733 "hate groups." In 2022, it counted 1,225 "hate and antigovernment extremist groups," many of them parents' groups focused on education. Today the list includes Moms for Liberty, PragerU and Turning Point USA.

Every bank knew it was the kiss of death to be seen doing business with the Klan. And when these bankers saw the Christian and conservative groups in the same category as the Klan, they took these accusations on faith. They cut off the customers the SPLC named. In return, they got their innocence. Their banks were cleansed of racists.

JPMorgan may have been the most savvy of them all. It donated to the SPLC and then its own subsidiary used the SPLC’s labels to close accounts it had flagged as racist. It bought innocence and, simultaneously, used it as a weapon.

MIKE DAVIS: SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: A TALE OF A RACISM SCAM

The power of White guilt is that it leverages the charge of racism mercilessly. It never has to prove the charge — the charge itself is enough. That has been the power of SPLC all along and it is a most lucrative one. The ones who paid were those who were accused of being Christians who hold the same views as millions of Americans. They were put into the race box and charged accordingly.

The gun that Morris Dees wore to my college turned out to be theater. We believed that it meant that racism was a living threat that might erupt any day now. Decades later, as I have followed the SPLC’s record, I have come to understand that the "Hate Map" is part of the same theater. The banks believed it because it was cheaper than challenging the methodologies of the SPLC and risking their judgement, the racist charge included.

This is the White guilt transaction that my father has long described and warned us against. The gift of this OCC report is that it reveals the truth that many of us have long suspected but could never answer. This report details what happened. But the harder question still remains: what do these banks, the SPLC and everyone who profited from this White guilt machine owe the people that they falsely put on that list?

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That gun never had to be fired. Neither did the Hate Map. The power was always in the accusation.

Fox News’ recent report on how a Democratic majority could expose the limits of the progressive agenda identifies the tension at the center of the next Congress: Democrats could win the House with a coalition of progressive members and moderates elected in competitive districts, then struggle to agree on what their majority should do. Fox’s House rankings also show how narrow that majority could be, while its Senate analysis describes a chamber where a 50-50 split would leave Republicans with the vice president’s tiebreaking vote.

For Republicans, the strategic task is clear: hold the Senate, keep House losses as small as possible and make the case for governing around voters’ priorities.

A Democratic House would have the authority to investigate the administration. Oversight is a legitimate responsibility, but if Democratic leaders make investigations the organizing principle of their majority, hearings, subpoenas and document disputes could consume the calendar and political attention that Congress needs to address the cost of living, energy prices, border security and national defense.

KATHY HOCHUL 'EXCITED' ABOUT PROSPECT OF DEMOCRATS TYING TRUMP UP IN INVESTIGATIONS

That choice could also deepen divisions inside the Democratic caucus. In a House majority measured by only a few seats, a small group of members can gain leverage over leadership votes, procedural decisions and the price of passing legislation. Fox's reporting describes how Democratic leaders are already navigating progressive demands alongside the concerns of members from more competitive districts.

That is where members of the Democratic Socialists of America, along with other lawmakers aligned with its priorities, could become the party’s outliers. They would not control the entire caucus, but could have an outsized role in deciding the legislative schedule. When the margin is razor-thin, even a handful of members can press leadership for commitments on policy or use a close vote to extract concessions. If Democrats do not go far enough for them, they could slow or block their own party’s agenda.

CARVILLE SAYS HE'D RATHER REPUBLICANS KEEP THE HOUSE THAN DEMOCRATS WIN BY FIVE SEATS, HELD 'HOSTAGE' BY DSA

Republicans should understand the opportunity. The DSA could dictate key decisions in a Democratic House. The risk for Democratic leaders is a recurring internal negotiation that makes compromise harder and gives moderates another reason to hesitate. If progressives demand more than swing-district members can defend, Republicans can argue that Democratic leaders are spending their majority on intraparty disputes instead of practical results. How the tables would have turned.

Keeping the Senate matters for the same reason. A Republican Senate would preserve a check on the House majority, shape judicial and executive confirmations and give bipartisan proposals a place to move if members in both parties are willing to negotiate. A tie would still leave Republicans with effective control through the vice president’s tie-breaking vote. That would not let Republicans pass major legislation on their own. Most bills would still require cooperation across chambers, and many would need broad support in the Senate. But it would keep the chamber from becoming an extension of the House Democratic agenda.

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In the campaign’s final days, Republicans should make the case that pocketbook issues require a Congress focused on governing, not one consumed by investigations or pulled toward the loudest voices in either party. The objective is to keep the House margin close enough that Democrats must answer to their moderates, while retaining a Republican Senate as a check and a forum for bipartisan dealmaking.

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Voters should see the stakes clearly: a narrowly divided House, a Senate no faction can dominate, and a Democratic caucus pulled between progressives and members elected in competitive districts. Republicans can close by promising what voters want from Congress: serious debate and workable solutions. If we hold the Senate and limit our House losses, divided government does not have to mean gridlock.

Marijuana is becoming the new alcohol — or worse. And children are paying the price.

Not only is cannabis use skyrocketing in this country, with close to 70 million users every year, but parents are increasingly subjecting their children to wafting, intoxicating smoke.

A new study from the University of California San Diego, a school based in a state with a big marijuana problem, shows that nationwide approximately 6 million children are living with a parent who uses cannabis most days.

MARIJUANA USE RISES SHARPLY AMONG ONE GROUP OF AMERICANS, NEW STUDY FINDS

As I pointed out on "The Ingraham Angle" recently (both host Laura Ingraham and I are highly concerned about the impact of chronic marijuana use), children are twice as likely to use cannabis themselves if they live in a household where a parent is a regular user, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Cannabis use has more than doubled in the adult population over the past two decades (it’s now over 8%), according to data from the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

MARIJUANA USERS MAY FACE HIDDEN DRIVING DANGER THAT STANDARD TESTS CAN MISS

Cannabis is highly addictive, and the THC content has increased greatly in all its forms, making it more and more dangerous. Edibles now typically contain up to 10 mg THC per serving, and concentrates and vape cartridges contain 50% to 95% THC (the psychoactive chemical in cannabis). The buds and flowers used for joints, vapes, edibles and concentrates are now 15 to 25% THC — a few decades ago, the amount was just 1 to 2%.

Children are the victims here, and the impact starts as early as the womb. Fetal exposure leads to nearly twice the risk of premature birth and a two-and-a-half-times-greater risk of being born underweight or needing immediate medical intervention in the Neonatal ICU. Yet national data shows that over 5% of pregnant women have used marijuana products over the past month, and the number is climbing. 

SHARON STONE'S TERRIFYING WEED WITHDRAWAL SPARKS WARNING ABOUT TODAY'S POTENT MARIJUANA

Plus, if a child is exposed to marijuana in the womb, research shows that there is a 2.5 times greater risk of THC product use during the child’s early teen years.

A landmark study from Harvard found that a mother’s cannabis use during a child’s first 12 years of life is linked to the child beginning to use marijuana by the age of 16. 

BRAD PITT SAYS HE CAN DRINK IN ‘RESTRAINED MANNER’ AFTER 7 SOBER YEARS, BUT EXPERT RAISES RED FLAG

Regular marijuana use is not just addictive and contagious; it also directly impacts parenting. Parents who are regular users are more prone to emotional outbursts, car accidents, poor parenting, and mental health disorders.

Regular cannabis use can also cause emotional dysregulation, mood swings, impaired judgment and unexpected outbursts of anger or irritability. Research shows that anxiety in parents leads directly to anxiety in children. 

Where do we go from here? Look to our long history with alcohol. Strategies developed and used over generations for dealing with another highly addictive substance, alcohol, can help parents develop the tools they need to help themselves and their children.

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In my new book, "The Angels Among Us," I share the story of how Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson is inspired by God’s presence, which comes to him in a "blinding glare of white light." After previously living with debilitating alcoholism, Wilson discovers that sobriety becomes its own reward as he helps other alcoholics find a path to recovery. He finds that his method works best when he is sharing mutual experiences rather than preaching to other addicts. 

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Although 130 million Americans drink alcohol — twice the number who use cannabis — more Americans consume cannabis daily than drink alcohol daily. 

Bill Wilson’s humble strategies of connectivity and spiritual cures can be applied to both addictions.

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The Democratic Party and its U.S. Senate candidate in Alaska owe voters the truth. Not the denials Mary Peltola’s campaign keeps repeating, but the truth The New York Times documented this week.

The Times reported that Peltola campaign aides and DSCC staffers worked to recruit additional candidates — including a man named Daniel J. Sullivan — to run and peel votes away from incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan under ranked-choice voting.

Drawing on texts, documents and interviews, the paper reported that Peltola was "definitely aware" of the effort to seek out other people with the same name. The campaign and the DSCC denied involvement in the sham. But notably, none of the parties accused condemned it.

MARY PELTOLA'S CAMPAIGN, DEMS BACKED COVERT SCHEME TO FIELD SPOILER CANDIDATES IN ALASKA SENATE RACE: REPORT

This is a character test for Mary Peltola. Alaskans deserve better than this kind of chicanery. Democrats clearly think voters are too dumb to figure it out. Nobody really believed Daniel J. Sullivan’s name ended up on the ballot organically. But now the Times has provided compelling evidence.

Peltola needs to come clean. If she wasn’t involved, then she needs to have the political guts to call this out.

SEN DAN SULLIVAN BRANDS PELTOLA’S ALLEGED BALLOT SCHEME A ‘SCANDAL AT THE HIGHEST ORDER’

On the other hand, if the allegations are true, imagine what she might be willing to do once voters give her power. Someone who greenlights a namesake spoiler operation like this one, then denies it, demonstrates a lack of integrity and judgment that Alaskans should not expect from their U.S. senator. Instead of making a compelling case for Mary Peltola to represent the state, the campaign and its Democratic allies relied on lies and dirty tricks.

The denials make it even worse. All accused parties took that position in public and in the context of the federal litigation over certification. Yet we have the former campaign manager telling the Times that Peltola was "definitely aware" of the recruiting effort. We even have an Elias Law Group attorney who represents both the campaign and the DSCC being looped into related discussions. If those allegations hold, the whole team lied about it.

COURT KEEPS ‘DECOY DAN’ ON ALASKA BALLOT AS EXPERT WARNS RANKED-CHOICE SYSTEM CREATES VOTER ‘TRAPS’

These were disgusting, sleazy dirty tricks intended to cajole, manipulate and snooker voters instead of winning on the merits. The whole point was to create confusion under ranked-choice voting and distort voters’ choices.

Democrats didn’t try to persuade Alaskans. They tried to trick them. That is immoral and disingenuous, and it says everything you need to know about today’s Democratic Party — and certainly about Mary Peltola.

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She has not given Alaskans the truth. At this late hour, she still won’t call it out for what it is. That silence is the character test, and she is failing it.

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Peltola owes Alaskans the truth. She has not given it.

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Which candidates for Senate are in a better position to help their state and, by extension, their citizens in the six years ahead?

This is the question voters in every state with a contested Senate seat should ask themselves before they vote between now and the close of voting Tuesday.

Example number one is Maine, where Senator Susan Collins is matched against Troy Jackson. Jackson is the man picked by Maine’s Democratic Party — not the voters — after Graham Platner crashed, burned and withdrew from the race on July 10. The party’s state committee picked Jackson even though he had finished third in the Democratic governor’s primary the same day Platner won his primary. Polls rate the Maine race as a toss-up, but polls at the close in 2020 had Collins behind by at least four percentage points, and she in fact won by more than 8%. 

MORNING GLORY: THE DEMOCRATS HAVE A 'FANATIC FOUR' OF EXTREMIST SENATE CANDIDATES

Maine voters are unlikely to surrender the seniority Collins holds — she is chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee — for a rookie who would rank tied for last in the currency that matters the most in the Senate: the incumbent’s years served in the body. Add to that reality the fact that every Mainer seems to know the senator at least in passing and that communities across the state have benefited from the influence she has accumulated over more than 10,000 consecutive roll call votes, and Collins is poised to win. Again.

In South Carolina, Sen. Darline Graham has been serving since her brother Lindsey died. That gives her a leg up on new senators elected this year, and in a state that went for Donald Trump by 18% in 2024, it’s very likely Graham will return for a full six-year term.

Ohio’s incumbent Sen. Jon Husted has been in the Senate since January 2025. As a member of the majority, he’s in a position to deliver more for the Buckeye State than the recycled Democrat Sherrod Brown, who was ousted by Ohio voters two years ago after collecting government paychecks for almost 50 years. Brown’s very liberal career lost touch with an Ohio electorate that went for Trump in 2024 by more than 11 points. Husted is the best candidate to deliver for Ohio.

In Michigan, either Republican Mike Rogers or Democrat Abdul El-Sayed would be a freshman senator, but El-Sayed’s white-hot radicalism will put him in a corner of the Senate that is empty except for Bernie Sanders. Rogers, by contrast, is a mainstream, moderate Republican with 14 years of experience in the House. Expect Rogers to receive a warm welcome from the Senate GOP, which is eyeing Michigan as a battleground state in the 2028 presidential election. 

FOX NEWS POLL: MICHIGAN VOTERS SPLIT BETWEEN EL-SAYED AND ROGERS

There’s a reason why most contenders for the GOP nomination have been to Michigan to lend Rogers a hand. Pennsylvania’s Senator Dave McCormick was in the Wolverine State this week, and not surprisingly, McCormick’s name is in the mix for 2028.

That's also true for Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who seems to have been everywhere this election cycle helping everyone (as a prospective candidate for the presidency does). Cruz was in Alaska on October 17 to give an assist to Sen. Dan Sullivan, who is a two-term incumbent with enormous ability to deliver for Alaskans. Democratic nominee Mary Peltola, by contrast, would be a freshman in the minority party if, as I expect, the GOP retains the majority. That’s a terrible trade and one that it is doubtful most Alaskans want to make. 

President Trump’s campaign trip to Alaska — rare for a sitting president — was intended to juice turnout there and to focus attention on the dirty tricks at work up north. A second "decoy" Dan Sullivan was planted on the four-choice ballot in the hopes of draining even a few votes from the real Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska’s weird ranked-choice voting scheme. 

PELTOLA ALLIES WORKED TO RECRUIT SPOILER CANDIDATES IN ALASKA SENATE RACE, REPORT SAYS

The real Dan Sullivan, the retired Marine Corps colonel on the Armed Services Committee with great seniority, is asking all voters, "Don’t rank Mary," to counteract the trickery. The electorate’s about a quarter of a million people. It’s a savvy bunch because the federal government matters so much in our 49th state. Expect the real Sen. Dan Sullivan to pull through.

President Trump won Alaska by more than 13% in 2024. He also won Texas and Iowa by more than 13%, which tells us that while Sen. Sullivan’s seniority will help him, even first-time candidates Ken Paxton in Texas and Ashley Hinson in Iowa should prevail against Democratic first-time nominees in both states, even in the "tough environment" of a president’s sixth year in office. President Trump has been to both states this week to energize the base. Whatever the polls say — and polls say both races are toss-ups — Paxton and Hinson appear to be in good shape and rising in the polls, and both would be joining a majority in the Senate, not the minority with vastly diminished powers.

Kansas went for Donald Trump by more than 16% two years ago. Its farmers have been hit hard by the high cost of diesel, but they know Sen. Roger Marshall has the seniority to help on the "Ag Bill" and deliver relief for the state. The nice pastor running against the nice Dr. Marshall doesn’t. The same is true for Sen. Pete Ricketts in Nebraska.

GOP SENATE MAJORITY FACES FRESH UNCERTAINTY AS 2 KEY RACES TIGHTEN DAYS BEFORE MIDTERMS

Which brings us finally to Minnesota, which is a deep blue state but one that nominated a far-far-to-the-left Democratic candidate in Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, whose eight years in that state job coincided with the massive fraud scandals in Minnesota and soaring violence among gangs of Somali-American youths. The Democratic Farmer-Labor Party decided to go way left even as the GOP nominated the sparkling political "Rookie of the Year" in Michele Tafoya.

Michigan might have the most-watched race because there’s never been an extremist like El-Sayed so close to winning a Senate race before, but the biggest upset could come in Minnesota, with Gopher State voters returning to the tradition of sending their occasional Republican to the Senate.

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American polling is as broken as Israeli polling, which just face-planted in Israel’s elections Tuesday. (Prime Minister Netanyahu emerged with the largest party and the largest coalition, which very few, if any, major polls saw coming.) Trusting polls to place bets on the prediction markets for American Senate races is as foolish as using the Farmers’ Almanac to plan your vacation in an El Niño year.

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The enormous advantage of seniority plus the record amount and pace of campaigning by President Trump don’t combine to leave the GOP anxiety-free. But Republicans surely don’t take their cues from legacy media and pollsters, which are, again, almost all openly tilted toward Democrats. The vote will be intensely interesting, but if "toss-ups" turn out to be blowouts in red states, don’t be surprised.

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As I look at a decade of coverage of the man who loves all things gold, I have to conclude that many journalists are suffering from Trump Exhaustion Syndrome.

It’s not about being physically tired, and of course there are exceptions. No, the syndrome involves throwing up your hands and abandoning basic fact-checking because, you know, they think, what the hell, everyone knows Trump says lots and lots of things that are untrue.

Much of this is tied to the surge in social media. After all, why do a second-day story analyzing what the president did or said when the hot story is Trump praising Nicki Minaj and her beautiful butt?

As for the truth-squadding part, don’t worry, I have the receipts. 

The other day, the president came out and said he had ordered the Justice Department to intervene in the crazy Alaska election. It was right there. He didn’t hide it. Pronounced it out in the open. 

I know the widespread belief that the department was doing his bidding — charging James Comey a third time? For younger readers, there used to be a brick wall between the White House and DOJ. 

If Joe Biden had breached that wall only once, he would have been impeached, convicted and behind bars.

As a former Justice Department reporter, I can tell you that divide hasn’t been pulverized since Watergate, when AG John Mitchell went to prison.

NOT EVEN SKY HIGH GAS PRICES OR THE IRAN WAR WILL STOP TRUMP SUPPORTERS VOTING MAGA

Now a couple of the Sunday hosts, CNN’s Dana Bash and CBS’s Margaret Brennan, aggressively pressed Attorney General Todd Blanche about the controversy (two Dan Sullivans, and as the New York Times disclosed, the second guy was recruited by the Democrats).

At one point, Blanche addressed the president’s order that his department file a lawsuit.

"No, no, he didn’t say it on camera," the AG insisted. "Yes he did," Brennan shot back.

Indeed, he did. But as I looked at the major papers the next day, the press had moved on. (My apologies if I missed someone’s brilliant analysis). It was as if the story no longer existed.    

That’s Trump Exhaustion Syndrome in action.

Here’s another example. Just a couple of days ago, Trump said that while he might move the press briefing room, "the old swimming pool will never be brought back. I NEVER even thought of doing such a stupid thing!"

That didn’t sound right to me, and boy was I exhausted after 20 seconds of fact-checking.

People Magazine, just last month: "As President Donald Trump fights in court to ban particular news organizations from the White House, he suggested converting the White House press briefing room back to the indoor pool built during Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s tenure in ‘The People’s House.’"

So we have a new definition of fake news: something the president used to say but has since changed his view and no longer stands by his previous position. 

I want to make something clear: I am not anti-Trump. I like him personally. I’ve covered him on and off since 1987, and interviewed him six times during the 2024 campaign. 

He can definitely be a charming guy in person. Most of the time, we’ve gotten along fine — he’s sent me a number of favorable notes — and sometimes, as is typical with him, not so much. 

There’s a reason half the country voted for him, even if many are now unhappy about the Iran war and rising prices at the pump. My goal here is to write about press behavior. 

Trump is a master media manipulator. He has known, since I was in New York writing about his exploits as a combative developer, how to distract the press from an unfavorable story, and he’s acknowledged as much to me.

When the president says "Norway sucks" and is a "s***-house country" (because he’s still ticked off about not winning the Nobel Peace Prize), he knows it will make news. 

Same with his comments about Nicki Minaj’s anatomy. He understands most of the press will take the bait. Oh, and sometimes Trump just gets carried away at rallies.

I’m not saying these things don’t deserve a mention in a feature column or as a cable-show kicker, but they do tend to squeeze out other stories.

SOCIAL MEDIA EXPLODES WITH MEMES CELEBRATING TRUMP VICTORY

When Trump called Barack Obama "stupid"— over a joke that the White House looks like Saddam’s Cheesecake Factory — he was edging into real news.

And when he ordered the raid on Ilhan Omar’s home — abandoning the longstanding justice practice of doing nothing to influence politics in a campaign’s last 60 days — Trump created a major, important news story, no question about it. 

Back in 1987, Trump told me, without being asked, that if he ran for president, he would win. I confess to having been skeptical.

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After Trump came down the escalator in 2015, he told me he had a 15 to 20 percent chance of winning the nomination. He can be surprisingly candid.

All these years later, it’s impossible to deny there’s a strong anti-Trump element in the media.

By convincing themselves there’s no point in challenging him because he constantly lies, many are indeed suffering from Trump Exhaustion Syndrome.