HERE’S THE REAL REASON STEPHEN MOORE WON’T BE ON THE FEDERAL RESERVE: Thomas McCardle, writing at Issues & Insights, explains: “The Federal Reserve is adept at using the complexity of money and banking to defend itself from attack and reform.

“It’s a quintessential example of elite Washington bureaucracy maintaining power by convincing the people that taking it away from the experts would mean the end of the world.” McCardle has much more to say and it’s worth reading it all here.

Full Disclosure: I know Stephen Moore. Stephen Moore is a friend of mine. I stick by my friends.

WHO IS THIS GUY AND WHAT IS THIS ‘HILLFAITH’ THING HE KEEPS TALKING ABOUT? Why would a conservative journo go out and start something like HillFaith? Glad you asked. Here’s why. And can you believe we actually had sideburns like that?

CBO ‘SCORED’ MEDICARE FOR ALL? NOT REALLY: Sen. Bernie Sanders asked the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to score his single-payer, Medicare-for-All proposal. Except he didn’t ask CBO to estimate how much it would cost taxpayers.

“Might that be because the senator does not want to know—or, more specifically, does not want the public to know—the dirty secrets behind his proposed health-care takeover,” asks Christopher Jacobs in The Federalist today. And Jacobs is just getting started with that query.

AND BENNETT MAKES 22 IDENTICAL DEMS RUNNING FOR PREZ: Thirteen of the 22 are either in Congress now or recently were, so the American Conservative Union (ACU) and Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) ratings are of great relevance.

And guess what? You need a powerful microscope to detect any differences on major issues among these people. They are all on the far left of the Democratic Party. The ACU and ADA data are mirror images of each other. And these people talk incessantly about “diversity?”

DEMS DEFENDED HOLDER, NOW THREATEN BARR WITH CONTEMPT, JAIL: Where were these guys when then-Attorney General Eric Holder refused to turn over subpoenaed documents in the Fast and Furious scandal and was held in contempt of Congress? The Democrats now threatening Attorney General William Barr and other Trump appointees with contempt and even jail time were defending Holder. Yes, this is my absolutely gob-smacked, completely dumb-founded, totally disbelieving face!

WHAT? LIBERAL THINK TANKER RIPS WARREN’S COLLEGE LOAN SCHEME: Something is going on when a top think tanker representing two anchors of the Washington liberal establishment takes apart a progressive favorite’s plan for no-fault college loans.

GLENN DEFEATS REAGAN! John Merline explains why that Morning Consult poll on Biden and Trump doesn’t mean much, contrary to Drudge.

FIVE WAYS MUELLER TEAM BROKE THE RULES: Ever heard of Rule 3.8? If you have, you are likely a lawyer or somebody who regularly works with lawyers. Rule 3.8 is the ABA’s directive to prosecutors that, among much else, they “refrain from making extrajudicial comments that have a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused …”

Adam Mill, writing in today’s edition of The Federalist, cites Rule 3.8 in his analysis of “Five Times The Mueller Probe Broke Prosecutorial Rules That Ensure Justice.” The third of the five cited by Mill is, at least IYTSHO, especially egregious as it points to the intrinsically partisan nature of the Mueller enterprise.

ANOTHER ‘NON-PARTISAN’ LIBERAL DARK MONEY GROUP EXPOSED: The Washington Free Beacon’s Joe Schoffstall is a smart, young investigative journalist worth following closely. Today he shines light on the lefty Trump impeachment activity of the Six Thirty Fund. 

NO, AMERICA IS NOT BECOMING A NATION OF ‘NONES:’ You hear it repeatedly in the mainstream media that the rise of the “Nones” — folks who check that box when asked their religious affiliation — is turning America into a secularized heaven on earth.

Along comes now Glenn Stanton who takes a closer look at all that research from Pew and others and discovers that — surprise? — the mainstream media hasn’t been telling us the whole story. In fact, they mostly got it completely wrong. And I have some thoughts on that score as well.

IF YOU LIKED IBD’S EDITORIALS, YOU’LL LOVE ISSUES & INSIGHTS: The editorials that appeared for years in Investors Business Daily were rigorously researched and thoughtfully written.

Now, thanks to several members of the intrepid band that did much of that great work, they are back, doing the same high level of commentary, such as this one by John Merline on the MSM congratulating themselves for lying to America about Trump’s tax cuts. Let’s hope Issues & Insights is around a long time to come.

DOES BEZOS READ HIS OWN NEWSPAPER? One wonders why, if he does, he lets stuff be published like the “News Analysis” piece on Monday that said the Sri Lanka Muslim terrorist bombings of Christian churches and costly hotels “fueled Far Right anger in the West.”

The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Peter Hasson notes the response of multiple Post critics and points out that this isn’t the first tragedy the Bezos paper’s editors portrayed promarily in terms of something to do with the “Far Right.” Surely they don’t mean to suggest that only the “Far Right” is angered when “rivers of blood” from innocent people flows in the aftermath of Muslim terrorism.

CAPTAIN AMERICA WILL DIE IN ‘ENDGAME:’ If you are under 25 years of age, or you are a Boomer who recognizes the Marvel Comics-based series of 22 movies in the past 10 years, then you know instantly what this is about. And you are eagerly awaiting “Endgame.”

I’m neither under 25 nor a Boomer who read comics as a kid — I was instead reading boring stuff like Goldwater’s “Conscience of a Conservative,” at least after giving up on ever becoming the Yankees’ shortstop — but today I pay close attention to what our culture is doing. And trust me, these movies are significant, culturally, socially and politically.

Dr. Sean McDowell, the Biola University professor of apologetics, has followed the Marvel series movies closely and he makes a highly persuasive case today that Captain America will be the sacrificial hero in “Endgame.” He doesn’t say it in this video but I have a sneaking suspicion McDowell will eventually also point out a spiritual element.

HOW THE MEDIA REPORTED THE FIRST EASTER: Here’s an interesting thought experiment – how would you have reacted had you been in Jerusalem on the Sunday after the crucifixion of Jesus on Friday?

Odds are, unless you were a Roman political official or soldier in the occupying army, a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin or perhaps a merchant with a table in the Temple, you would likely only know what you heard from neighbors and the rumors in the streets.

Being a journalist and lover of history, I sat down and wrote three “news” stories as I might have done as a local reporter in Jerusalem on the first Easter. You can see the outlines of the debate that has continued for 2,000 years on what really happened, which makes for an unusual and revealing way of seeing a traditional holiday.

Check it out for each day – Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And try not to be freaked out by the hands on Saturday!

POST-MUELLER DEMS, GOP SAME AS PRE-MUELLER DEMS, GOP: Remarkable how nothing changed despite millions of tax dollars, thousands of interviews, hundreds of subpoenas, and 448 pages.

WOULD LESS GOVERNMENT ATTRACT MORE TALENT? There are sometimes gold nuggets to be found where least expected. Take for example R Street Institute Senior Fellow Casey Burgat’s five excellent non-salary suggestions to the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress.

Burgat is focused on how to attract more talent to congressional staff and reduce the constant turnover that saps efficiency. He wisely notes that there is much more to attracting smart people to work on the Hill than simply handing them bigger paychecks.

And then comes Bret Bernhardt, a former chief of staff to senators Don Nickles of Oklahoma and Jim DeMint of South Carolina, who further points out in an analysis of Burgat’s suggestions on HillFaith that much of the turnover from Hill staffs is to K Street lobbying and government relations shops.

“The allure of work off the Hill is directly proportional to the growth and pervasiveness of government itself. Chart a line that shows the growth and pervasiveness of government alongside the growth in the number of lobbyists and you’ll find in it an interesting parallel,” Bernhardt writes. “Bringing this into equilibrium will cure most of the problem.”

Reality is so attractive when stated in such common sense terms.

IS DOJ’S CRIMINAL REFERRAL PROBE OF CHRISTOPHER STEELE CLOSED? The Federalist’s Margot Cleveland poses a key question and offers a disturbing possible answer.

HOW OBAMA SPIED ON TRUMP: The Epoch Times’ U.S. editor Jasper Fakkert offers a comprehensive round-up of all the ways the former chief executive’s minions used the power and presence of the federal government to spy on the Trump campaign, beginning in 2015. All of which raises the classic Watergate question: What did the president know and when did he know it?

MAYBE IT’S TIME TO RE-OPEN THE AWAN INVESTIGATION? The Daily Caller’s Luke Rosiak reports a second Senate aide was involved in digital theft of GOP senators’ personal information from the congressional computer networks.

Rosiak knows whereof he speaks, being the author of Obstruction of Justice and the guy who busted the Awan scandal wide open.

DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE NEW ‘CONSENT CONDOM?’ No, I am not making this up, it’s a new product from an Argentinian firm. Four fingers are required to open the package – thus the product name. Any bets on how long till American colleges distribute these to students for free?

Prof. Sean McDowell of Biola University points to the lesson shouted by the Consent Condum about the “failure of the Sexual Revolution.” And Prof. Adam Ellwanger, writing in The Federalist, points to a huge related glaring contradiction in the nation’s current sexual climate.

But wait, there’s more! The same post takes you to something The Urban Alternative’s Tony Evans and Super Bowl-winning NFL coach Tony Dungy are doing on the same front and did you see Gallup’s Lifestyle survey results? Surprise! Married men and women are happier virtually across the board.

It’s all in one jam-packed HillFaith post this morning.

COMEY DESCRIBED ‘SOURCES AND METHODS’ IN HIS CYA MEMOS: The former FBI Director is looking ever more devious. Consider this observation from The Last Refuge:

“Along with writing notes of the meetings and conversations, apparently Comey also made notes of the sources and methods associated with the investigation.  Why would Comey generate classified information in these notes (sources and methods) unless he was just covering his ass because he knew the investigation itself was a risk…”

Just keep scrolling.

WHAT’S THIS, A 53 PERCENT TRUMP APPROVAL RATING? That screeching sound you hear is from liberals and their “journalist” friends tearing their hair out in frustration over this. Or maybe it’s this from last week.

WHEN IS TOO MANY BEYOND TOO MANY? That’s a question that’s getting some worried discussion among Democrats, thanks to the total of 18 present candidates and the prospect of as many as 30 announced candidates seeking the party’s 2020 presidential nomination.

“This is a great example of all these people looking at their own interests, as opposed to the interests of the country and the interests of their party,” David Burstein told The Epoch Times. Republicans have some interesting thoughts about all this, too.

HOW MANY SMOKING GUNS BEFORE THEY LOCK HER UP? Judicial Watch just keeps winning court decisions forcing the government to cough up embarrassing documents that pile the evidence higher and higher that the FBI probe of Hillary Clinton’s email scandal was a joke.

And as the evidence piles up, it becomes ever clearer that what Comey should have said in July 2016 was this: “I hope the Justice Department throws the book at her because I don’t know an honest prosecutor who wouldn’t file charges based on this evidence.”

WHY ARE YOUNG AMERICANS SO MISERABLE? This is important. If you read nothing else this weekend, give this article by the Washington Free Beacon’s Charles Fain Lehman a close, thoughtful look, especially the concluding sentence. Then I would humbly suggest that you check out this observation on HillFaith.