by | BLOG
With Donald Trump as the nominee, the Republicans adopted a 20-point platform. Here’s a rundown of the good, the bad, and the ugly:
1. Seal the border, and stop the migrant invasion
This is absolutely correct, although the devil is in the details as to how this could be done.
2. Carry out the largest deportation operation in American history
Though it is certainly beneficial to having a deportation program, creating a huge new government bureaucracy to effect this would be a huge mistake. In contrast, a carefully targeted program of selected deportation could be very valuable, especially in letting people know that future immigrants entering illegally will be prosecuted.
3. End inflation, and make America affordable again
This is a very understandable statement — “ to end inflation” — but without an indication of the specific policies to accomplish this, it is somewhat meaningless. This is especially true given that some of Trump’s stated policies such as protectionism and keeping and increasing tariffs would be highly inflationary.
4. Make America the dominant energy producer in the world, by far!
I couldn’t agree more. This is also very easy to accomplish by just eliminating Biden’s ridiculous restrictions on fossil fuel permitting drilling and leasing.
5. Stop outsourcing, and turn the United States into a manufacturing superpower.
This is possibly the most ignorant of these platform considerations. Outsourcing has been historically responsible for keeping inflation under control and for allowing American workers to focus their capabilities on higher-end employment. The United States is currently a major manufacturing superpower, with its manufacturing capability and output close to its highest ever in U.S. history. The manufacturing that is done in this country, i.e. high end products, is already here. Inducing lower value-add manufacturing will not only reduce wages of American workers, but increase prices to domestic manufacturers, thereby making them less capable of competing in the world markets.
6. Large tax cuts for workers and no tax on tips
Large tax cuts are always a good thing for economic growth, but given the current state of the deficit and debt there would need to be a rational way to pay for these. Also sometimes the devil is in the details as to what constitutes a tax cut for workers – it must undoubtedly be structured as a rate cut rather than a handout, so that growth will result.
The concept of “no tax on tips” is a nonsensical, not-well-thought-through idea. There is no reason that tips should be taxed less highly then other forms of income. Furthermore, administration of such a position would be extraordinarily difficult. It would also induce all parts of the economy to reorient their compensation in the form of tips rather than normal wages.
7. Defend our constitution, our Bill of Rights, and our fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to keep and bear arms.
Again, although the specifics aren’t laid out, this is a clear and important platform component.
8. Prevent World War Three, restore peace in Europe and in the Middle East, and build a great Iron Dome missile defense shield over our entire country- all made in America.
“Prevent World War Three and restore peace in Europe and in the Middle East” are great sentiments, but I have seen no policy proposals that would even begin to address these. A strong US military that uses overwhelming power to subdue Iran and its proxies could work, but I haven’t heard anything like this from Trump.
A great Iron Dome missile defense shield over our entire country sounds like it could be a good idea, but my guess is that it is ridiculously impractical. And that it should be all “made in America” is an economically ignorant concept. When we pay much more than we need to in order to accomplish any task (which is what “made in America” actually means), then we are much less likely to accomplish this at any feasible and reasonable cost.
9. End the weaponization of government against the American people
This is very important. Big government overburdening regulation has been devastating to the growth of the U.S. economy. Scaling back the powers of government agencies and their overpowering ability to destroy companies by pushing never ending, ever-growing regulation, must be stopped.
10. Stop the migrant crime epidemic, demolish the foreign drug cartels, crush gang violence, and lock up violent offenders.
Stopping the flow of illegal migrants, as noted in point #1, is critically important. But the entire concept of a migrant crime epidemic is just plain false. Though there are some highly publicized and horrific crimes perpetrated by illegal migrants, the statistics on immigrant crime is crystal clear. Illegal immigrants commit crimes at rates significantly lower than native-born Americans. This is consistent with what seems rational– that is, if you’re an illegal alien, and want to stay in this country, you keep a low profile and avoid criminal activity. It should also be noted that legal immigrants commit crimes at even substantially lower rates than illegal immigrants.
11. Rebuild our cities, including Washington DC, making them safe, clean, and beautiful again
This could be good or bad depending on the actual implementation of such a thing. How are our cities to be rebuilt? Who will pay for it? And to what extent can the federal government be effective in what is clearly a state and local problem (except for Washington DC)?
12. Strengthen and modernize our military making it, without question, the strongest and most powerful in the world
Without question, this is one of the most important platform items given the volatility of the world today, and further considering the disdain in which our country is now viewed militarily by the likes of Russia, Iran, China, and North Korea.
13. Keep the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency
The dollar will remain the world’s reserve currency as long as the U.S. does not allow its financial strength to deteriorate, such as by allowing continuing deficits, ever growing debt, and increasing socialist tendencies which are degrading America’s growth prospects.
14. Speak for and protect Social Security and Medicare with no cuts, including no changes to the retirement age
Again, this is an extraordinarily economically ignorant platform position. This position basically requires that Social Security benefits for existing beneficiaries will decline by approximately 22% when the Social Security fund runs dry in approximately 10 years. The Social Security system as presently constituted pays to existing beneficiaries far in excess of the actuarial value that they contributed. And this excess is being paid for by present workers, who therefore will have nothing left from their contributions to pay retirement benefits to themselves. Rational fixes, such as those proposed by Nikki Haley, would include raising the retirement age, making the annual inflation adjustment more rational, and potentially adding a little more means-testing to the system. These adjustments would be phased in, and would not affect current beneficiaries or those within a few years of retirement. But if fixes are not made, then in ten years, existing beneficiaries will bear the brunt of the refusal to fix the system now.
15. Cancel the electric vehicle mandate and cut costly and burdensome regulations
This is absolutely critical and important. The electric vehicle mandate, on any rational cost-benefit analysis, is wasteful beyond belief. It also interferes with the freedom of Americans to buy what they want to buy. As the Supreme Court has indicated in the Obamacare case, the federal government cannot force U.S. citizens to buy what they don’t want to buy.
Cutting costly and burdensome regulations are critical. Cost benefit analysis would clearly show that agencies have irrationally instituted regulations by making unsupportable calculations of cost benefit. These regulations must be eliminated.
16. Cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, radical gender ideology, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children
This is an extremely important and necessary platform position, although we must be careful to not trample freedom of speech and other rights while doing so.
17. Keep men out of women’s sports
This is absolutely absolutely important, and supported by an overwhelming percentage of Americans.
18. Deport pro- Hamas radicals and make our college campuses safe and patriotic again
I fully agree, insofar as pro-Hamas radicals are clearly defined as those violating individual and property rights of others, and not just exercising their rights of free speech.
19. Secure our elections, including same-day voting, voter identification, paper ballots, and proof of citizenship
Securing our elections is critically important, including proof of citizenship, before one is entitled to vote. I believe however, that reasonable people can disagree on details, and I hope that these details can be accomplished in a bipartisan way.
20. Unite our country by bringing it to new and record levels of success
This is a feel-good ending to the platform, which will be accomplished by proper consideration and implementation – or not – of the first 19 provisions.
by | BLOG
President Biden’s college debt forgiveness programs are not only illegal, but morally and ethically wrong, and economically stupid. It certainly has appeal to those whose debt is forgiven – after all, that is the payment for their votes. But to no one else.
College loan forgiveness is, at its core, a wealth transfer. Despite what the left would have you believe, it simply takes from those who have little and gives to those who have much. The Biden administration estimates that 27.6 million borrowers (around 64% of all borrowers) will have some or all of their debt forgiven. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (UBS), college graduates make on average $67,860 per year compared to $38,800 per year for non-graduates, which is a 65% gap. Biden’s plan necessitates taking from those in society who are already in the lowest income bracket to give to the college graduates of the country.
So, not only is it morally and ethically wrong, it’s also just bad policy from an economic perspective. It sends the wrong message to borrowers who willingly took out loans to finance their education. When individuals take on debt, they have a responsibility to repay it. Forgiving student loans undermines personal accountability and discipline, creating a moral hazard by encouraging future students to borrow more, assuming their debts will also be forgiven someday. This would fuel inflation in higher education costs and perpetuate a cycle of debt and forgiveness. And it is also a slap in the face to those who have already paid their debts,
It is also illegal. President Biden does not have statutory authority to forgive debt, except by direction of laws passed by Congress (as the Constitution makes perfectly clear). “Justification” for his forgiveness is to claim as his authority laws that were clearly never intended for that purpose.
Forgiveness also does not deal with the root cause of spiraling costs, which are directly linked to the Federal government guaranteeing student loans, without a single thought given to the loan recipients ability to repay like any private entity would do. A study published by the New York Federal Reserve Bank found a direct connection between federal student aid and tuition increases, every dollar of subsidized student loans, increased tuition by about 65 cents.
Student loan forgiveness is not a solution but a short-sighted and lazy attempt to buy votes. It is an illegal action which fails to address the root causes of rising education costs and unfairly shifts the burden on taxpayers who did not benefit from higher education loans.
by | BLOG
A few years back when Kamala was chosen as the VP candidate, I compiled a list of Kamala foibles; now that she’s the Democrat candidate for President, I decided to dust it off. It’s important to know that she had committed some rather egregious trespasses as a prosecutor. Just as disturbing is her fluctuating policy positions, calling into serious question her attempt to presently appear as a criminal justice reformer. Instead, Harris should be known for 1) her criminality and very poor judgment as a prosecutor 2) her hypocrisy, and 3) her opportunism.
One of the biggest areas of concern is her prosecutorial misconduct. In many instances, she basically acted as a rogue prosecutor who should have possibly been charged criminally for her own actions in some of the following incidents:
*During a case in 2015 in which a prosecutor concocted a confession from the defendant, thereby leading to the case being dismissed, Harris’s Attorney General’s office appealed the dismissal.
*During a case in 2015 in which a prosecutor in his case fabricated information to a jury relating to compensation to an informant, Harris’s Attorney General’s office fought the defendant’s appeal.
*During a case in which the entire Orange County DAs office was removed from the trial for failure to turn over evidence, Harris sought to block the removal.
*During a case in which a man was wrongfully imprisoned for 13 years, Harris’s office attempted to keep him locked up.
*After a crime lab technician purposefully tainted evidence in a vast amount of cases, Harris hid his actions while acting as a San Francisco DA.
Furthermore, Kamala Harris has worked on rebranding herself from previously being tough on crime to more sympathetic to justice warriors. For instance:
* Until 2014, Harris was against the legalization of marijuana while acting as the Attorney General of California.
* Harris declined to support criminal justice sentencing reforms that were on the ballot in California in 2012 and 2014.
* Harris’s office opposed an order to lessen the amount of prisoners in California, while supporting the use of prisoners as laborers due to the low cost.
* During her time serving as the Attorney General in California, Harris supported the dubious practice of civil asset forfeiture under the guise of going after drug operations.
Additionally, Harris was eager to be in the spotlight while moving up the political chain in California; two ridiculous incidents in particular come to mind.
*While running for US Senate, Harris’s office arrested the owners of Backpage, a site for classified sex workers, after publicly declaring that they “were protected from prosecution under federal speech law.” The case was promptly thrown out by a judge.
*While running for US Senate, Harris’s office went after for-profit colleges in California as part of an Obama initiative, while subsequently refusing to release any buyer of potential future liability– meaning anyone purchasing would be under constant threat of a lawsuit. Subsequently, no buyer would accept the terms. The Corinthian college system therefore shuttered 23 schools, putting people out of work and education.
Kamala Harris has repeatedly shown to have no moral compass. Her actions as a prosecutor should be alarming, as well as her hypocritical flip-flopping of positions. Kamala has shown to be a mercurial political opportunist who merely parrots Biden’s egregious fiscal and foreign policies, and she has no business being a Presidential candidate.
by | BLOG
Kamala Harris first came on my radar in 2015, when she partnered with the Department of Education to close some for-profit colleges in California when she was the Attorney General. In an earlier post on the subject, I noted that Harris worked in conjunction with the Department of Education specifically targeting the Corinthian College system. According to the Wall Street Journal, “Last summer the Education Department began to drive Corinthian out of business by choking off federal student aid for supposedly stonewalling exhaustive document requests. The Department claimed to be investigating whether Corinthian misrepresented job placement rates as California Attorney General Kamala Harris alleged in a lawsuit.”
Corinthian agreed to turn over their education centers to other non-profits, but Kamala Harris refused to release any buyer of potential future liability, meaning anyone purchasing would be under constant threat of a lawsuit. That November, “the nonprofit Education Credit Management Corporation (ECMC) “agreed to buy more than 50 Corinthian campuses for $24 million plus $17.25 million in protection money to the feds for a release from liability. But ECMC passed up Corinthian’s 23 schools in California because Ms. Harris wouldn’t quit.” The alternative to having no buyer for these particular schools would ultimately be to shut them down.
It was in April 2015 that Corinthian was slapped with the $30 million fine, which effectively drove the final nail in the coffin of the remaining schools because no one in their right mind would shoulder the liability. As for the hefty penalty, “The Department assessed the maximum fine of $35,000 per regulatory violation, which its bureaucrats count as each student that was improperly counted.” By the end of the month, all the rest of the schools indeed closed, throwing out of employment and school, thousands of people.
What makes this whole affair particularly odious is that that “the federal government [didn’t] specify how for-profits calculate their job placement rates. States and accrediting agencies have disparate and often vague rules, which notably don’t apply to nonprofit and public colleges.” Thus, Corinthian Colleges was really just a part of the larger assault on for-profit colleges by the Obama Administration, all tied to his “Gainful Employment” rules.
Part of the new regulation change dealt with colleges and federal aid, and Corinthian was a ripe target. What’s more, the Department of Education found a ready and willing partner in Kamala Harris, who, at the time, just happened to be running for a very important Senate seat in California at the time, the seat of retiring Barbara Boxer. She was elected a year later. Harris demonstrated her willingness to play along to get along. Even now, nearly a decade later, some things haven’t changed.
by | BLOG
I get email from all sorts of groups, but this one caught my eye earlier today. “Jews United for Democracy and Justice” invited Andrew Weissmann as a speaker for a talk entitled, “THE QUEST FOR ACCOUNTABILITY: An Expert’s Analysis of Trump’s Liabilities” to be given on Wednesday, 6/26. The fact that Andrew Weissmann is speaking on accountability is hypocrisy in its purest forms, given his history of despicable lawyer practices.
During the Colombo crime cases in the 1990s, Weissmann withheld exculpatory evidence and was reprimanded for doing so by a judge in the Eastern district of New York. Several years later during his tenure as head of the task force investigating Enron, he intimidated witnesses and made repeated threats, resulting in his abrupt resignation in the midst of jury deliberations. Similarly, Andrew Weissmann persecuted and prosecuted Jim Brown, a Merrill-Lynch executive, for a deal with Enron during which Weissmann concocted evidence and hid Brady material, and then repeatedly lied to the court about having such material. Initially, Jim Brown was found guilty and sent to prison, but the fraud and conspiracy charges were later overturned for him and three other Merrill Lynch executives.
Likewise, Andrew Weissmann brought an indictment against the Arthur Andersen firm as an entity arguing that it covered up for Enron. No indictment against a company for the action of one person had never been done before — or ever since. But in the end, no crime was actually ever committed, as determined later by a unanimous 9-0 Supreme Court decision. During the oral argument, the Court viciously ridiculed the theory that Weissmann used in order to charge the crime in the first place. Unfortunately, that exoneration came too late: Weissmann had destroyed an 89-year-old accounting institution and eliminated 85,000 jobs by distorting the law, denying the defendants a fair trial, and taking intent out of the jury instructions.
In 2013, Weissmann faced ethical charges before the First Judicial Department Disciplinary Committee in NY for his outrageous behavior, including hiding evidence and lying to the court, during the Enron trial. But the Committee passed the disbarment issue on to the Eric Holder DOJ in DC, who buried the charges.
Having Weissmann give a talk about credibility is utterly laughable. For all the people they could have invited to talk about Trump, he is the absolute worst. Weissmann does anything to win, including violating all moral and ethical principles. Weissmann should have been disbarred years ago; having him as any speaker anywhere whatsoever denigrates the organization that invites him.
by | BLOG, Israel
It is simply outrageous that the French government recently banned Israeli exhibitors from participating in a defense industry trade show after pro-Palestinians protested their participation. Nevermind the fact that the show, the Eurosatory, is the biggest international show for land and air-land defense and security held every other year in Paris. As Israel has always been a major military presence, it is a vital contributor, with 74 exhibitors scheduled to attend before the prohibition.
What’s even more egregious is that a French court, in deference to Palestinians, subsequently voted to ban any Israeli company from outright attending merely three days before the start of the exhibition. So not only were Israelis shut out from exhibiting, France further decided that they cannot even send representatives or employees to meet with or contact any of the exhibitors.
It has come to my attention that in early June, when the French announced the initial exhibitor ban, Representative Ogles (R-TN) introduced an NDAA amendment on this that passed by voice. It urged that the DOD and its agencies not participate in the Eurosatory this year if Israeli firms were also banned from participating. This is as far as it ever got in Congress and with the Eurosatory now underway this year, nothing more can be done.
It is heinous that the French used such a ban as a way to deter Israel from defending itself, and that our Congress knew about it and did nothing.
Congress and/or the administration MUST act to exact real consequences on France for these actions.
by | BLOG
My utility provider, Con Edison, recently announced yet another increase in utility prices and many of my neighbors are incensed. According to their website, “New York City residential customers may see an 11% increase in summer bills due to higher delivery charges. For the same reason, Westchester residential customers may see a 12% increase.” This is on top of continuous increases over the past few years.
But their anger is misplaced. Instead of blaming Con Ed, they should be outraged at the state and local legislators who have irrationally pushed wind and solar projects to the detriment of the utility consumer.
NY residents have been subjected to the closure of nuclear power plants, the closure of extraordinarily efficient, natural gas plants, and the construction of extraordinary, wasteful, wind, and solar projects. Several of these have monumentally failed — but these huge financial losses are now built into our utility cost base!
It is now commonly understood that the wind and solar projects that have been imposed upon us in recent years will have virtually no effect on the climate. But what it has done is add tens of millions of dollars of increased wasted costs that are now built into our utility cost base for the consumer to bear through increased prices, like the ones announced by Con Ed last week.
The most distressing part about this is not what our government has done to us, but that the media, the newspapers, and mostly the elected officials absolutely ignore this reality.
As a tax accountant, a significant portion of my work is now moving people out of New York, because of huge living costs as well as huge taxes. I myself expect to be leaving New York, mostly for these reasons. For a constituency that’s supposed to be intelligent, it is extraordinarily disappointing that we continue to elect these people. We should all be ashamed.
by | BLOG
Phil Gramm and John Early do a great job refuting the persistent concept of a gender pay gap in the Wall Street Journal. Whatever gap exists doesn’t stem from gender discrimination but rather from job choices.
The pay gap as published is calculated each year by dividing the average full-time, year-round pay for women by the average full-time, year-round pay for men. But, as the authors point out, “that comparison is misleading because full-time, year-round work is defined so broadly.” Comparing a lumberjack working 70 hours/week with defined hours earning $100,000/year with a secretary working 35 hours/week with flexible hours earning $50,000/year would calculate as a 50% pay gap. This number borders on meaningless.
Women often opt for different career paths based on flexibility or risk. Some prioritize family over maximizing income. Adjusting for factors like education and job risk narrows the gap. Women’s experience and child-rearing further affect their earning power. Fewer women graduate in high-earning fields. Men take riskier jobs, leading to higher wages but also more danger and less job satisfaction.
It’s no longer likely that a company is going to pay a woman 16% less pay for virtually the same work and get away with it. If that was truly the case, it would logically conclude that businesses would hire as many women as possible in order to minimize the cost of labor and maximize potential profits. But that’s just not happening.
The last time I wrote about “the Gap,” during the Obama administration, it was 23%. Now it’s 16%. Men’s evolving roles at home and preference for job flexibility, and women seeking the tougher jobs, have narrowed the pay gap. Understanding these nuances helps to explain wage disparities in terms of extenuating factors — and not gender.
by | BLOG
It has been widely written that the criminal charges against Hunter Biden, with respect to his tax evasion, were severely hampered because the IRS let the statute of limitations lapse. But it is clear to anybody that’s ever worked with the IRS that this is blatant coverup. It’s hard to know exactly what happened, but the fact remains that the IRS never lets the statute of limitations lapse.
Indeed, when the IRS has an open case, the most important element of that case, always, is the statute of limitations. It is normal IRS procedure to insist that the taxpayer agree to extend the statute when there is still six months to go. If the taxpayer refuses, the IRS issues a Notice of Deficiency for the largest amount it can imagine, preventing the statute from expiring. Taxpayers therefore NEVER refuse.
In 40 years of practice, and in discussions with other tax practitioners, no one has ever heard of a case where the statute of limitations actually lapsed. Anybody who has worked with any IRS agents will tell you that they will confirm that they have never heard of the statute of limitations lapsing — especially with a different level of supervisor’s attention to the statute.
As if this was not incredulous enough, the statute of limitations never expires in the case of tax fraud. Though the statute is normally three years from the date of the filing of return, and six years if income on the tax return was understated by 25% (certainly the case with Hunter Biden), this period is extended indefinitely if tax fraud is involved (also almost certainly the case with Hunter).
Though I have tried to pursue this matter and get an answer from people involved, I have up to this point not been successful. But I do want the public to know that there is some serious cover-up going on with the current Hunter Biden IRS tax situation.
by | BLOG
President Biden and his cohorts in the White House, have been making the point recently that things are good now that inflation has come way down from its highs. In making these assertions, he is trying to take advantage of what he perceives is the economic ignorance of the American people.
Let’s be clear: When the rate of inflation comes down from 9% to 3%, what that means is that instead of prices going up at a 9% annual rate, they are instead going up at a 3% rate. Biden is trying to trick the public into thinking that the rate coming down from its high of 9% means that prices are coming down. But this is nonsense, and in fact, even at 3%, prices are going up faster than they have been going up since 2007. That is why people are confused. They’re thinking that there is this lower rate of inflation, so why does it still seem that prices are rising? The answer is because prices really are still rising, and at a very significant rate.
My only question is whether Biden is intentionally trying to bamboozle the American public, or whether he himself is so economically ignorant, that he actually believes this himself?
