MUMBO-JUMBO WON’T FIX THE FEDERAL BUDGET: Sixty House members propose three rather vague actions to begin addressing the exploding national debt and steadily declining Social Security and Medicare trust funds. Folks Left and Right aren’t impressed.

ANOTHER ASSAULT ON CHRISTIANS’ FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS: One thing you dare not do as a military chaplain, according to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), is share positive opinions about the Bible and Jesus with other chaplains.

NOW ITS INSTAGRAM CENSORING A CONSERVATIVE ELECTED OFFICIAL: Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and her daughter had a children’s book being promoted on Instagram. Not now. Instagram claims the book could influence elections. Yes, that’s really what Instagram said.

CHINA SHOWS ITS TRUE TOTALITARIAN COLORS ON HONG KONG: It was always a fable, Issues & Insights reminds us this morning, the idea that by growing closer in trade with the West, Red China would grow more like us politically. Instead, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) shrewdly and in so many ways took advantage of our abundant naivety to grow their power and resources.

Now, as they move troops into the disputed border area with India (which is, let us not forget, a nuclear power), lawlessly expands its military presence in the South China Sea, clamps steadily tighter its totalitarian grasp on Hong Kong, moves invasion forces nearer Taiwan, and threatens the U.S. in manifold ways, America faces a new Cold War. We can either face this reality or continue blindly with our liberal globalist fables.

CALIFORNIA, NEW YORK HEAD ONE WAY, TEXAS AND FLORIDA THE OTHER, BETTER WAY: Data tells the story.

NEW TWIST ON AN OLD BUM RAP AGAINST BELIEVERS: Glenn Stanton, writing for The Federalist, gets some giggles, thanks to Harvard’s Steven Pinker, who probably should stay in his own lane.

FORMER PELOSI AIDES ARE CASHING IN AS CCP VIRUS LOBBYISTS: Yes, I’m trying to duplicate Sarah Hoyt’s shocked face, but it’s just not happening. And for the record, a bunch of former Trump appointees did the same thing, notes Alana Goodman of the Washington Free Beacon.

STATES DEMANDING BIGGEST BAILOUTS DO LEAST TO CONTROL DEFICITS, SPENDING: I won’t tell you the names of the three worst states, but their initials are California, Illinois and New York.

NO MORE STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT BAILOUTS: Veronique de Rugy and Ted DeHaven of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University make the case the federal government should get out of the bailout business and allow the consequences to be felt of bad decisions by state and local authorities.

WAIT, SO NOW WE CAN’T SAY ‘HUMAN CAPITAL?’ The march of political correctness continues.

THE DEFICIT MYTH: You may not recognize Stephanie Kelton, but she knows you because you are a “currency user,” whereas government is a “currency issuer.” Therefore, according to Kelton and other Modern Monetary Theorists (MMT), Washington can spend and borrow without limit and without worry of ever going bankrupt.

And the day after the 2020 election, I will awaken with a third ear growing out of my forehead. Kelton on the other hand could wake up that same day headed to the White House as a key economics adviser in the Biden presidency. Odds on the latter are better than those for the former, so you might want to become familiar with MMT.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA DOCS SEE MORE SUICIDES THAN CCP VIRUS DEATHS: The data is steadily piling up, and it’s not unique to the Golden State, according to Jeffrey Tucker of the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER).

FASCINATING TECHNOLOGY BUT IS IT REALLY THE LAST SUPPER LOCATION? Count me skeptical of the claim, but using infrared technology to recreate a building’s digital history could open a whole new field of inquiry in archeology and maybe criminology as well.

HILLARY WAS AN AMATEUR TAX HIKER COMPARED TO BIDEN: The former Vice President will confiscate an estimated $4 trillion from our pockets. The former First Lady only targeted $1.5 trillion in her 2016 presidential campaign, according to CNBC’s Robert Frank. Frank apparently doesn’t know such comparisons just aren’t done by Mainstream Media reporters.

OMAR EXTENDS LEAD IN RACE FOR ‘MOST CORRUPT CONGRESSMAN:’ Minnesota Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar blew by a huge field of competitors to take the lead in the race for 2020’s “Most Corrupt Congressman of 2020.” It appears she may have a concealed book advance giving her a supercharged boost just when she needed it.

SPEAKING OF THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS CORPS: Issues & Insights notes this morning that Trump’s approval rating “is now higher than the sainted Barack Obama at the same point in his presidency. Is the public finally catching on?” There is good news here for some groups, including snake oil salesmen who are now more respected than journalists.

MEMO TO WHITE HOUSE PRESS CORPS: Think twice before savaging Kayleigh McEnany, who has quickly demonstrated that there is a new sheriff in town for the daily press briefings. And you especially don’t want to mistake her tears for Ravi Zacharias’ passing for weakness as they are anything but.

INFLATION AHEAD BUT BIGGER PROBLEM WILL BE MONSTER FED: Yes, Washington’s coronavirus relief spending explosion is likely to cause inflation, but people ought to be more concerned about what the Fed is becoming.

BAR MILLIONAIRES FROM GETTING EXTRA $600 A WEEK: Want to make coastal elites squeal? Support Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) bill making anybody with $1 million or more in annual income ineligible for that extra $600 a week from the feds for the unemployed.

LOCKDOWN LOOKS LIKE A BOON TO HOMESCHOOLING: Real Clear Opinion Research Poll finds 40 percent of respondents are more likely to continue homeschooling their kids after the lockdown is behind us, and another 64 percent say they support protecting the right of parents to choose either public or private schooling for their kids.

DATA ANALYSIS FINDS COUNTIES WITH HIGHER SOCIAL CAPITAL HAVE FEWER CORONAVIRUS CASES: Remember, correlation is not causation, but there is a distinct relationship in the study reported by the Institute for Family Studies (IFS).

SIDEWALK ART AND MUSIC BRING NEIGHBORS TOGETHER: There are so many creative ways folks can overcome barriers to stronger local communities. This Dallas businessman did it from his front yard.

ANYBODY HAVE A CLUE WHAT EACH CORONAVIRUS CRISIS LIFE SAVED COSTS? Issues & Insights surveys the estimates and concludes: “The massively intrusive and costly government lockdowns are looking more and more like the most expensive and least effective regulations ever imposed in this nation’s history.”

UPDATE: Link was missing — fixed now. Sorry!

MAIL-IN VOTING AND BALLOT-HARVESTING ARE DEMS’ CURE FOR CORONAVIRUS: There it is on page 1,469 of Nancy Pelosi’s $3 trillion coronavirus relief proposal that will almost certainly pass the House on a straight-party line vote.

SURPRISED? STATES WITH MOST PUBLIC-EMPLOYEE UNIONS OVERWHELMINGLY DEMOCRATIC: No, me neither, but the Education Intelligence Agency’s Mike Antonucci’s spreadsheet makes it so totally clear.

“The states with the higher percentages of public-sector union members are overwhelmingly Democratic, and those with the lower percentages are overwhelmingly Republican,” Antonucci said. Just remember, correlation is not causation.