After all, the Dems have a Deep State to protect and re-empower.

The top-polling Democrat candidates are embarrassingly lame. Once the confident front-runner, Joe Biden has been sliding backwards because of his verbal gaffes, incidents of inappropriate touching and a general lack of sharpness about the issues.

The apparent up-and-comer Elizabeth Warren has problems too: she won’t say how she will finance her top goodie, Medicare For All (including illegal aliens) — because that particular item is so pricey that her proposed tax-the-rich plan comes nowhere close to paying the tab.

Warren is not the only Democrat with poor math skills. When a debate moderator requested of the Democrat candidates, “Raise your hand if your government plan would provide [medical] coverage for undocumented immigrants,” all responded affirmatively.

On Tuesday, Tucker Carlson included clips from lower-tier candidate Cory Booker reciting his “Politics be damned” motto, because Democrats apparently believe they have to keep tap-dancing as fast as they can to obscure their lack of appealing issues for the 2020 election.

TUCKER CARLSON: Good evening, and welcome to “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” Not so long ago CNN President Jeff Zucker gathered his minions on a morning conference call and commanded them to play up the ongoing impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives. Impeachment, impeachment, impeachment — Zucker squeaked. Nothing else matters, yell about impeachment until your throat bleeds, that’s an order.

And with that he slithered off back to his lair, deep beneath CNN’s Center in the ice caves. And of course the minions obeyed. They were afraid not to obey. But we happen to disagree with Jeff Zucker. Now if you’re a committed partisan as he is, impeachment often looks like the most important story there is.

But if you’re not, sometimes it seems like about the fifth or sixth most important story playing out in America right now. There’s an awful lot else going on. So that’s pretty much how we’ve been covering the story on this show, which is to say not very closely. But tonight, there’s some actual news to report. We want to take a moment to assess what exactly is happening with impeachment.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced that later this week, the House will hold a formal vote on procedures that could lead to a formal impeachment of the President at some point. And what exactly does that mean? Why is it happening? What will result from it? All of that, unfortunately, is still opaque tonight. It’s still not exactly clear what high crime the President supposedly committed. There’s some disagreement on that question actually, even on the left.

So to solve the riddle, we are taking you tonight as we often do when cloudy issues demand clarity to the pride of Yale Law School, the oracle of Newark, the single most famous bachelor vegan in the United States Senate. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Cory A. Booker who will read to us tonight from his newly released spoken word prose poem entitled, “Politics Be Damned.” Dim the lights. Be still and listen to Cory:

SENATOR CORY BOOKER, (D-NJ): Politics be damned. I have a job to do, which is to hold the executive accountable.

Politics be damned. This is our country. This is our Constitution.

Politics be damned right now. This this is a sad day, a sad chapter in American history.

Politics be damned. It’s time to do what is right.

And politics be damned. I just want to get the truth. I want to do my job.

Politics be damned. I swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution. I need to do that.

The politics of this be damned.

CARLSON: So there you have it. Politics be damned, more than sorrow than in anger, mister. This isn’t about politics, Cory Booker says. It is about doing what’s right, as it always is in Washington.

And if you’ve got any doubt about that, he will say it again and again and again and again until you are too exhausted or hypnotized to protest, which ought to be a tip off that in fact, the opposite is true.

Actually, this is entirely about politics. There is no real crime behind the impeachment proceedings. Instead, the President’s chief offense appears to be disagreeing with policies set by the bureaucratic state in Washington. How do we know that? Because they’ve essentially admitted it.

Over the past two weeks, the House has heard testimony from a diplomat called Bill Taylor, and then an Army Lieutenant Colonel called Alexander Vindman. Their statements we are told will sink President Trump, maybe.

So what have they said? Well, to start, both Taylor and Vindman are intense Russia hawks, both have testified that they want heavy American aid to Ukraine because they want to weaken Russia. Both have emphasized that they don’t want any debate in the U.S. about these policies. They’ve said that out loud.

In his remarks, Vindman said that he opposed President Trump’s phone call with the President of Ukraine for this reason, quote, “I realized that if Ukraine pursued an investigation into the Biden’s and Burisma, it would likely be interpreted as a partisan play, which would undoubtedly result in Ukraine losing the bipartisan support. It is thus far maintained,” end quote.

And the implication is, that would be unacceptable. Now Taylor said something almost identical to that. Here it is, quote, “To restore Ukraine’s independence, Russia must leave Ukraine. This has been and should continue to be a bipartisan U.S. foreign policy goal,” end quote.

So in other words, Washington may have two parties, but only one position on Ukraine is allowed here — and Trump doesn’t have it. His phone call was unacceptable because it might prevent America from automatically unthinkingly spending billions of dollars over many years to prop up a country that most Americans could not find on a globe at gunpoint.

There’s just one problem with this arrangement. Voters disagree. We know this because when he ran three years ago, President Trump didn’t hide how he felt about U.S. foreign policy. He told voters that America was involved in too many pointless wars. He criticized the then President Obama for having bad relations with Russia.

The Trump administration, he promised would pursue better relations with Vladimir Putin.

Now, that may sound shocking, but in fact it was not an unprecedented idea. Obama ran on something close to this in 2012, and the public supported it then, too. He won.

But now that same idea isn’t simply unpopular in Washington, a ruling class considers it illegal. Former C.I.A. head, John Brennan put it this way on Twitter, quote, “As in previous times of national peril, we rely on our military, diplomats, Intelligence officials, law enforcement officers and other courageous patriots to protect our liberties, freedom and democracy. May they stay resolute and strong despite corrupt political headwinds they face,” end of quote.

Got that. Unelected bureaucrats uphold — wait for it — democracy. Elected officials subvert democracy. In John Brennan’s Orwellian world, the most pressing and imminent threat to this republic is voters.

As it happens, the incidence of sexual nonconformity is not unknown south of the border. In the 2001 book True Tales from Another Mexico (reviewed by me in The Social Contract), a chapter was devoted to the drag queens of Mazatlan. They were managing reasonably well at that time, with a little drama thrown into the mix.

Interestingly, the English-language Mazatlan Post describing the city’s first carnival in March 2019 observed that “the Sinaloa-lesbian-gay-bisexual-transsexual community had a notable presence.”

So Mexican transgender persons are getting along fine and don’t need to be rescued by Elizabeth Warren.

More importantly, Fox Business host and math advocate Melissa Francis pointed out that the Democrats’ generous Medicare-for-All project — including all 22 million illegal aliens — is simply undoable because there is not enough money floating around to pay for it.

Along the way, Tucker went off the rails regarding his fondness for the millions of foreign invaders. In a discussion of free healthcare for illegal aliens proposed by Democrats, he remarked, “I have always thought and I still think that most illegal aliens are probably nice people. I mean, they came here because they like America. . . And most Americans like immigrants, really like them.”

Illegal aliens don’t come to America because they like this country: they come here to make more money than they could accrue at home, period.

In fact, many immigrants avoid Americans by moving directly into ethnic neighborhoods filled with people from their homeland. Similarly, a recent AP-NORC poll shows voters have noticed that newbies are not assimilating to American culture and values.

Snap out of it, Tucker. Let foreigners stay home and improve their own countries — win, win.

TUCKER CARLSON: So what’s Elizabeth Warren’s strategy for becoming President? Well, it’s coming into focus slowly. She apparently believes she can win the nomination, and ultimately the President with a simple approach — on every issue, find the most left-wing possible view, and then go even further than that.

So promise Medicare-for-All, but without any tax increases. It’s magic. Use America’s wealth to fund race-based reparations because almost no one is in favor of that.

On the border, it is not easy for Warren to stand out because at this point, almost every other Democrat wants amnesty, no deportations, free healthcare for illegals. So what does she do? Well, she has found a way.

In a new letter to the Department of Homeland Security, Elizabeth Warren demands that all transgender illegal immigrants and she doesn’t say how many there are, but all transgender illegal immigrants caught at the U.S. border must be let into this country immediately.

Warren says that it’s dangerous to be transgender in Mexico. So anyone who claims they were born in the wrong body must be allowed to stay here, no questions asked to receive a taxpayer funded transition. That’s right. It’s a daring gambit by Elizabeth Warren.

She seems to have calculated that she can alienate every normal person in the continental United States and still become President. Will it work? Well, we’re about to find out.

Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are both running on a Medicare-for-All plan. And they really mean for all. They promise to give free medical care to everybody who is here illegally. It’s about 22 million people. That number is rising, and of course, it will rise dramatically if this new handout becomes law. But let’s pretend it won’t. Let’s pretend the number stays static at 22 million.

How much would it cost to give free healthcare to the legal immigrants already here? According to a new calculation, by the American Enterprise Institute, Medicare for all would cost about $10,000.00 per person per year. So multiply that by 22 million illegal immigrants and you get to $220 billion every year.

Now, even in an era of supersize numbers, that’s a ton of cash. That is, for some perspective, 10 times the entire budget of NASA. It’s also more than the current Veterans Administration budget, the VA budget, which means America would quite literally be spending more on illegal immigrant healthcare than it does on veterans. That’s their plan.

Melissa Francis is co-host of Outnumbered. She also hosts over at Fox Business and thankfully is a frequent guest on the show. She joins us tonight. So you’re the numbers person. You’re one of the good people who went to Harvard — assess our math. It’s true. There aren’t many, you’re one.

MELISSA FRANCIS: Well, thank you.

CARLSON: Assess our assessment. Are the numbers that we’re throwing out there correct?

FRANCIS: I mean, it’s interesting because the number that you quote on the number of illegal aliens that are in the country. Who knows what that number really is, right?

I mean, there’s no way of knowing. MIT was the latest one to do a study with Yale, but all focus on MIT, because they’re very good at math. And they were the ones that came up with this idea of 22 million people.

But the point is, if you do all that math out, it doesn’t even really matter, because we already can’t pay for Medicare-for-All, and I don’t mean, we can’t pay for it in the sense of, you know, we’d have to tax the middle class.

I mean, like, there isn’t the money at all. And I don’t know why more people don’t press Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, for that matter, on this because even when Bernie Sanders admits that taxes would have to go up dramatically on the middle class — that still wouldn’t do it.

If you confiscated all the money. I told you this before, but if you took away every single dollar that every person who makes more than $200,000.00 a year makes and you threw them into an abyss somewhere to die, and you took all their money, it still would not pay for Medicare-for-All.

So what difference does it make if we add a lot of illegal aliens? Why don’t we add Canada? They’re nice people. I mean, why not?

CARLSON: You know that’s exactly it. They are nice. And by the way, I have always thought and I still think that most illegal aliens are probably nice people. I mean, they came here because they like America. Well, so do I. I get it?

And most Americans like immigrants, really like them. If you want to make Americans hate immigrants, give free healthcare to illegals because that will — I mean, that will engender resentment, why wouldn’t it? Most Americans aren’t able to pay for the healthcare they want. Do you know what I mean?

FRANCIS: Right. No, it’s absolutely true. I mean, the reason why people love Medicare, and if you talk to seniors in Florida, they love it. It’s because they use four times as much in dollar terms as what they’ve paid in.

That obviously can’t work on a larger scale. It means everybody else is supporting this group. They’re the elderly, we love them. We’re happy to do it. You can get the Medicare add-on insurance, but you can’t put the whole population on that.

But you know, it’s amazing to me, Democrats and a lot of people in D.C., including Republicans, I think they think math is a myth. Math is like a vast right wing conspiracy. They’re allergic to math.

I mean, they don’t want to do any of these numbers because it would make everything impossible. And it is depressing when you can’t pay your bills and you continue to rack up credit card debt, who wants to sit down and crunch those numbers? Certainly not the politicians in Washington.

But the truth is that there literally isn’t enough money for Medicare-for-All. It’s not about who can you tax, because if you raise taxes on everyone — everyone — it still wouldn’t pay for it.

CARLSON: They’re liars.

FRANCIS: Yes.

CARLSON: And that’s kind of what it comes down to. Melissa Francis, good to see you tonight.

FRANCIS: It’s immoral.

CARLSON: Yes, it is.

FRANCIS: Good to see you, too. Yes, it’s really disingenuous. See you later.

Below, when a moderator requested of the Democrat candidates, “Raise your hand if your government plan would provide [medical] coverage for undocumented immigrants,” all responded affirmatively.

For more details about Heartland’s report, see Medicare for All: More Taxes, Worse Health Care, and Much More Debt.

Incidentally, numerous illegal aliens have already come to the United States to mooch healthcare from American taxpayers. One of the most obnoxious cases was the several liver transplants performed on illegal alien Ana Puente whose aunt brought her to the U.S. from Mexico to get medical care. Puente’s attitude was one of entitlement, revealed when she remarked, “It doesn’t matter if I’m undocumented. They should take care of me at UCLA for the rest of my life because I’ve been there since I was a baby.”

In 2006, the Denver Post reported, “Hundreds of Mexican illegal immigrants are in Colorado not just for work but also for free medical care they say they can’t get back home.”

So there’s already a pattern in place of illegal aliens crossing the border to steal free healthcare from the beleaguered American taxpayer. The Democrats want to take it to the globalist extreme to get future voters and turn America into a socialist hellhole forever.

TUCKER CARLSON: 2020 could be the first year that the Democratic Party nominates a self-described socialist for president. Even if they don’t, almost every Democratic candidate running right now has endorsed at least some socialist policies. What are these policies and maybe more important, how much would they cost and would they work? Is there any evidence they would?

Justin Haskins is editorial director and a research fellow at the Heartland Institute, and he joins us tonight to assess. So Justin, we want to take all policy ideas seriously. Clearly the people in charge have screwed up the country, so we’re open-minded always, but give us a sober analysis of some of the big policies these candidates are promoting. Would they make the country better?

JUSTIN HASKINS: No Tucker, unfortunately they would not make the country better: the vast majority of the policies being offered right now by the Democratic Party are going to be incredibly expensive. They have no way to pay for them, and the first one to talk about of course is Medicare for All.

A lot of people have heard that this is going to cost $32 trillion to $38 trillion dollars over the first 10 years, but what does it actually mean for middle-class people? They’re being told that they’re going to save thousands and thousands of dollars because they’re not going to have to pay expensive deductibles and co-pays and things like that, but here’s the truth: we just conducted a study at the Heartland Institute, and we found that middle-class Americans are going to get absolutely screwed by single-payer healthcare.

Forty million to 60 million American households are going to end up paying more in new federal taxes than they’re going to get back in healthcare benefits. People who make $75,000 to $100,000 a year are going to see their tax bills go up, we estimate by 12,000 to $15,000 per year. Those who earn $100,000 or more are going to see their tax bills go up on average by $20,000, and the more money you make, the worse it gets. So single-payer healthcare — there is absolutely no way to pay for that.

And that brings us to our second point: free healthcare for all illegal immigrants. This is one of the most ridiculous policies that has ever been proposed in American history. Here you have 11 million to 29 million illegal aliens here in the country right now, and that’s probably a conservative figure. Even if we assume we’re just going to pay out healthcare costs that match what we’re paying right now for Medicaid beneficiaries, we’re going to see costs goes up. Who’s going to pay for that?

CARLSON: May I stop you there? So you’re saying those costs will go up? Those are just the costs of paying for the healthcare of illegal aliens.

HASKINS: That’s right, and that’s just the start. I mean this is a big invitation to the world, to billions of people around the world — come here to America, we’re gonna pay for your healthcare. What’s to stop busloads or trainloads or planeloads of people with serious ailments from coming to the United States legally or illegally, and for us to be treating these people?

I mean this is this is total madness, and that’s why basically no other country in the entire world does something like that, so yes this is a crazy proposal from the left.

And the third big proposal is a federal jobs guarantee: now this might seem tame compared to the other things that we just talked about, but this is an incredibly dangerous proposal.

Not only is it going to be very expensive — four trillion to $44 trillion, according to the American Action Forum over a ten-year period, depending on how many people are in it. But in addition it’s going to indirectly give the federal government power over the entire labor market because if they’re offering people a living wage, anyone a living wage which could be $15, it could be $20, it could be $25 an hour it means whatever it means to the Democratic Party candidates.

If you’re offering that then how is a small business or a medium-sized business supposed to compete with the federal government? You’re going to have millions leaving their jobs in the private sector to go work for the federal government to earn $20 an hour and free health care and free paid family leave and all sorts of other things to take jobs that don’t necessarily need to exist. I mean this is crazy stuff.

CARLSON: It is crazy, and they’re all for it too.