My March Rage Gauge is in, and it feels like the calm before the storm. Does that mean the market will have a huge downward correction this year? Like I’ve written to you in the past, I’m not in the prediction business. Because for you to be a great investor, you need to put together multiple seasons of investing and then maybe you’ll be able to look back and say: “Well, I wouldn’t want to do that again, but we made it.” Let me explain. All of us have a pretty good feel for what’s going on today. Interest rates aren’t moving, the Trump economy is OK (It could be great again if the … [Read more...]
Americans Want to Leave Their High Tax States
States with high taxes, despite taking more of their citizens' money, tend to have poorer infrastructure and services. So it's no surprise that citizens who live in those states also have a greater desire to leave. Steven Malanga explains this phenomenon in The Wall Street Journal, and suggests that labor laws have a lot to do with the dissonance between state revenues, and the output generated by state services. He writes: Seven of the eight states with the highest percentages of people who want to move elsewhere are solidly Democratic in party affiliation, according to Gallup polling. … [Read more...]
National Right to Work Could Help States That Can’t Help Themselves
Many states are hostage to the powerful public sector unions they employ. These unions are the largest, most organized group of voters in many forced-union states. They wield their massive power to lobby for higher wages. Paying those wages demands higher taxation, which can cripple private industry in the states. State governments that have been captured by union interests are powerless to fight back. Some states have seen the damage unionized public sector employees can cause, and have set into place Right to Work laws, protecting employees from forced unionism. The laws don't end unions, … [Read more...]
Democrats Sign on for $1.5 Trillion Tax Hike
With the American economy firing on all cylinders after President Trump cut taxes two years ago, Democrats have come along with a plan to raise taxes. The plan is to raise the payroll tax from 12.4% to 14.8%. The plan would increase the share of GDP of Social Security taxes from 4.5% to 6.5%. Investor's Business Daily reports: Amid all the hoopla about Democrats wanting to raise taxes on the rich, they are quietly working on a bill that would increase taxes on every working family in America. Why? To fund expanded benefits for baby boomers hitting retirement. The Social Security 2100 Act … [Read more...]
Buchanan: The Decline of Congress not a Recent Phenomenon
Pat Buchanan explains to readers of his blog that voters may be rejecting democracy in favor of more autocratic leaders they believe will actually get things done. He writes: “If you look at Trump in America or Bolsonaro in Brazil, you see that people now want politicians who are tough enough to do what they promise,” said Spanish businessman Juan Carlos Perez Carreno. The Spaniard was explaining to The New York Times what lay behind the rise of Vox, which the Times calls “Spain’s first far-right party since the end of the Franco dictatorship in 1975.” Indeed, the growing impatience of … [Read more...]
Tucker Explains: Donald Trump: “We Have Destabilized the Middle East”
Today, Tucker Carlson has taken to the pages of The American Conservative to absolutely destroy America's foremost neocon, never-Trumper, Bill Kristol. When Americans rejected Kristol's neocon approved candidates for the straight talking Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential primary, he went nearly mad. Since then he has spent most of his time, according to Carlson, attacking Trump and his supporters, losing his longtime job at the Weekly Standard in the process. Tucker explains: It is possible to isolate the precise moment that Trump permanently alienated the Republican … [Read more...]
Do You Have What it Takes to be a Great One?
My son’s high school hockey team won their game the other night 7-1. In what can often be a tense ride home (dad’s you know what I mean) I was more relaxed talking about his play. One of his comments was “If we beat them 7-1 what are the other teams winning by that beat us 7-1?” I’ve been thinking about that comment. Becky responded that both teams looked evenly matched at the beginning and then at one point it shifted one way. It’s hard to see that shift live and in person. It’s easier to see it after the game. Take baseball, for example. If you go to a Red Sox game and see … [Read more...]
Is Your State Winning or Losing the Tax Game?
There are winners and losers in the race for more federal tax dollars. Some states pay out large amounts of tax dollars but don't get much back. Others reap the rewards of federal largess. The New York State Comptroller's office has studied the phenomenon and laid out the facts. New York is a big loser when it comes to tax dollar allotment, ranked at 47th in net tax flows. Worse off though is nearby New Jersey, which ranks dead last in the ratio of dollars out to dollars in. If you live in New Mexico, your state is receiving the highest net tax dollar flow, with a positive per capita … [Read more...]
Unhinged Rep. Omar Embarrasses Congress with Questioning of Abrams
The questioning Elliot Abrams endured from freshman Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (who didn't even know his name, calling him Mr. Adams) at yesterday's hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee was an embarrassment for America. Omar threw accusations at Abrams in the public eye without allowing him a chance to defend himself. Abrams was flabbergasted by Omar's attacks, based on events that happened three decades ago. It's one thing to demand answers from a witness in front of Congress. It's another to demand answers for a matter that was settled when Omar was 10 years old and still hadn't … [Read more...]
Democrats Never Wanted to Vote on the Green New Deal
In the sort of sly stroke of Senate genius he is known for, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has decided to quickly hold a vote on the resolution known as the "Green New Deal." The resolution, championed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and sponsored in the Senate by Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey contains a litany of outrageous demands from the most radical quarter of the progressive environmentalist cabal. It is unlikely Markey ever thought the resolution would get a vote in the Senate. But McConnell has other plans. Knowing full well that the resolution will fail spectacularly, and … [Read more...]