This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Tuesday, May 23, 2017:
Now that the long-awaited Trump budget for Fiscal Year 2018 has been released, it hasn’t failed to deliver what skeptics initially expected: Growth coupled with lower taxes will drive the economy to levels that will balance the budget — by 2027 — much of it based on magic, hope, pixie dust, and gimmicks.
First, the “magic.”
This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Monday, May 1, 2017:
After debating hundreds of items in the stop-gap government spending bill to fund the government through September, congressional leaders birthed a beast that rejected nearly all of President Donald Trump’s campaign promises.
On Sunday night Democrat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer gushed: “This is a good agreement for the American people, and takes the threat of a government shutdown off the table.” He made sure that everyone took note that most of Trump’s priorities were rejected: “The bill ensures taxpayer dollars aren’t used to fund an ineffective wall, excludes [160] poison pill riders [offered by Republicans], and increases investments in programs that [Republicans resisted but] that the middle-class relies on, like medical research, education and infrastructure.”
California Democrat Representative Nancy Pelosi was delighted to see a provision included that would require the U.S. taxpayer to bail out Puerto Rico to the tune of $295 million, calling it Medicare relief rather than a bailout:
From the beginning, Democrats have sought to avert another destructive Republican government shutdown, and we have made significant progress improving [this] omnibus bill.
Bloomberg, in its reporting, couldn’t restrain itself: “GOP leaders … bowed to Democratic demands to eliminate hundreds of policy restrictions aimed at curbing regulations, leaving the Trump administration with few victories.”
When two big-spending, Constitution-ignoring liberal Democrats get excited about a government spending bill, one knows something is dreadfully amiss.
The White House sought $30 billion for the Pentagon. It got just $15 billion, with $2.5 billion of it on a conditional basis. The White House wanted funding for the wall. It got $1.5 billion for “border security” but with the proviso that none of it be spent on the wall.
The White House has promised to cut funding for Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood got an increase. The White House wanted to cut funding to sanctuary cities. That was rejected. Those cities will get their federal funds. It wanted to cut funding for the National Institutes of Health. The NIH got a $2 billion boost. The White House has promised to cut the EPA’s budget. It got millions more in funding, along with a promise that there would be no staff cuts.
The White House has stated it wanted cuts to the Energy Department. Instead, the department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency — which funds experimental energy research and has been targeted for elimination by the White House — got millions more to spend instead.
The National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities? They got increases.
In addition, more than 70 items that Bloomberg called “anti-environment policy riders” were scrapped.
Most annoying to those thinking that the new president would actually be keeping his promises was his statement that he would sign the bill if it arrives at his desk “as we discussed.” That could happen as early as Wednesday.
Perhaps the president is making a deal? Give up a little now in order to press for more later? After all, the bill, once signed, would only fund the government through September. The 2018 budget is still a work in progress.
Or is he going along to get along, not wanting to have the Democrats hang the “shutdown the government again” albatross around the Republican Party neck?
Or is he betraying his promises to his constituents in order to get “something, anything” about which he can claim victory during the early days of his administration.
He is the president, after all, and still has plenty of political capital that he could invest in keeping his promises. Why wouldn’t he consider vetoing the bill rather than folding, especially when it contains odious pro-death funding for Planned Parenthood? Wouldn’t this be a good time for him to stand tall and reject the bill, unless and until it reflects his promises and policies? Wouldn’t this be the time, as Ron Paul just said, “to shut down most of the federal government, starting with bringing the troops home and drastically cutting the military-industrial complex’s budget?”
Or has the president been assimilated by The Borg — the powers-that-be in Washington — and just decided that “resistance is futile” and that he’ll be happy that the cuts to his projects and priorities weren’t even worse?
This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Monday, April 17, 2017:
Congressman Justin Amash
When Representative Justin Amash (R-Mich.) learned on Friday that President Trump intended to resuscitate the Export-Import Bank by naming two people to its board (it has been limping along with just three out of five board members present), he nailed it, tweeting, “ExIm corporate welfare bank is the symbol of D.C. cronyism. It steals from taxpayers to subsidize big corporations. End ExIm. Drain the Swamp.”
For a while it looked as if the Ex-Im Bank was for all intents and purposes dead. In 2015, the House failed to renew its charter for the first time since 1945. However,
This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Friday, April 7, 2017:
The beauty of the CRA, the Congressional Review Act, is that it provides a process by which an incoming administration can look back at the previous administration’s rules and regulations and repeal, neuter, or abandon those it doesn’t like. In addition, once a rule has been repealed, the CRA prohibits it from growing back again. Call it “Roundup” 2.0 for political weeds and unwanted grasses.
What’s remarkable is that, since its enactment in 1996 as part of the Republicans’ Contract with America, it has only been used once: by George W. Bush. Congress passed five CRA resolutions under Obama but he vetoed them all. For him, no government was too big nor any regulation too outrageous.
When Marc Short, Trump’s Director of Legislative Affairs, was given the mike at the White House press conference on Wednesday, he spoke at length about the president’s aggressive use of the CRA to turn back a few of the many hundreds of burdens applied to businesses by the previous administration. Before taking questions Short said:
This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Thursday, February 23, 2017:
OpenCarry.org open carry gun laws
Residents of New Hampshire are enjoying a long-awaited expansion of their Second Amendment rights with the signing into law on Wednesday of a bill allowing them to carry a firearm without first obtaining government permission. The third time “is a charm,” it is said, and this bill passed on the third attempt. The previous two attempts passed both state houses but were vetoed by previous Democrat governors.
Said Republican Governor Chris Sununu:
This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Wednesday, February 15, 2017:
The United States Supreme Court, the highest court in the United States, in 2010.
In his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention after becoming the Republican nominee for president, then-candidate Donald Trump reiterated the importance of the replacement of deceased Supreme Court Judge Antonin Scalia, stating, “The replacement of our beloved Justice Scalia will be a person of similar views, principles and judicial philosophies. Very important. This will be one of the most important issues decided by this election.”
Following Trump’s election victory in November, liberals voiced shock and consternation, especially in light of the Republican Party maintaining its majority in the branch of the legislature tasked with confirming Scalia’s replacement — the Senate. Nina Totenberg of National Public Radio declared that
This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Wednesday, December 28, 2016:
Magpul, one of the country’s largest producers of ammunition magazines, vowed to leave Colorado if the state’s Democrats passed a law limiting magazine capacities to 15 rounds. In 2013 anti-gun Democrats, reveling in the successful implementation of the “Colorado Model” (funded by four wealthy liberals, designed to “turn red states blue”) ignored the threat and passed a series of anti-gun measures that included that limitation on magazines.
Magpul kept its vow and moved its Erie, Colorado, manufacturing facilities to Cheyenne, Wyoming in 2014, just across the northern border. It took with it some 200 jobs,
Sign from the John Birch Society advocating US withdrawal from the United Nations
The election of Donald Trump has generated much buzz in the mainstream media over the inaccuracy of the polls, why the American people voted as they did, and of course, what Trump will do as president. The buzz has also included claims that Trump will undo much of what has been done under Obama, that he will imperil our “democracy,” and that “Trumpism” is the latest manifestation of The John Birch Society. The New American magazine recently had the opportunity to sit down with and interview Arthur R. Thompson, the CEO of The John Birch Society, and ask him about this, his thoughts about this past election, and also what lies ahead for the Society in the coming years. Thompson (shown on the right, with interviewer Christopher Gomez) became CEO of The John Birch Society in 2005 and is now in his 11th year.
The New American: How does the election of Donald Trump to the White House affect or change any of the goals of The John Birch Society, as compared to the Obama administration or a Hillary presidency had she won?
This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Tuesday, December 13, 2016:
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry (shown) said that it’s likely his first presidential run ended during a Republican debate in 2011. He ran on a platform of cutting government and when he was asked by a moderator which agencies he would eliminate, Perry responded:
This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Monday, December 12, 2016:
Social Security Poster:
There’s no doubt that Texas Representative Sam Johnson means well. He and his constituents are concerned about their financial futures and about the viability of Social Security as an important part of those futures. So on Thursday he offered his plan “to permanently save Social Security.” He calls it the “Social Security Reform Act.”
The plan doesn’t deserve a close look.
This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Monday, November 21, 2016:
Senator Charles Schumer
During a press interview at his office on Friday, New York Democratic Senator Charles Schumer said that he had spoken two or three times with President-elect Donald Trump: “He’s called. He’s friendly. The word is that he thinks he can work with me, but we’ll see. The jury’s [still] out.”
Schumer, just reelected for his fourth term as senator, will become the Senate minority leader in the 115th Congress as Harry Reid, the present Senate minority leader, is retiring. The Wall Street Journal characterized the interview as an effort by Schumer to seek “common ground” with Trump. Other members of the press weren’t so charitable.
Schumer was feisty,
This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Monday, November 21, 2016:
The Godfather, Part II
In a scene from The Godfather, Part II that resonates even today, Michael Corleone says: “My father taught me many things here. He taught me in this room. He taught me; ‘keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.’”
Is that what The Donald is doing in romancing the Senator Minority Leader to be, Senator Chuck Schumer? On Friday Schumer told the press that he has already received two or three phone calls from Trump: “He’s called. He’s friendly. The word is that he thinks he can work with me, but we’ll see. The jury’s [still] out.”
On Sunday Schumer said that the jury has returned with a verdict:
This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Wednesday, November 16, 2016:
The Mutt and Jeff comic strip began in 1907 and lasted until 1983, with Al Smith drawing them for nearly 50 years. The slapstick comedians Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy played to audiences from 1927 to 1950 while Bing Crosby and Bob Hope made seven “Road” films starting in 1940 and ending with “the Road to Hong Kong” in 1962. An eighth “Road” film was planned in 1977, “The Road to the Fountain of Youth,” but it was canceled when Crosby died of a heart attack that year.
Question: how long is the “co-equal” partnership of Reince Preibus and Steve Bannon likely to last?
This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Monday, November 7, 2016:
Back in January, Tyler Durden (a pseudonym), writing at ZeroHedge, said one would be far better off watching the markets than the debates if one wanted to know who the next president would be:
This relationship occurs because the stock market reflects the economic outlook in the weeks leading up to the election. A rising stock market indicates an improving economy, which means rising confidence and increases the chances of the incumbent party’s re-election.
Therefore, your time might be better spent from August through October watching the stock market rather than the debates if you want to know who will be President for the next four years.
Right on cue, the stock market has declined nine days in a row (through last Friday), the first time that has happened since 1980. But more importantly
This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Friday, October 21, 2016:
The standard Laffer Curve
The Tax Foundation, founded nearly 80 years ago, considers itself non-partisan, guided by what it calls “the principles of sound tax policy, simplicity, transparency, neutrality, stability, no retroactivity, broad [tax] bases and low [tax] rates.” It has steadfastly opposed tax increases of any kind: income, corporate, or excise. Especially annoying are tax “preferences” (i.e., subsidies) for the housing industry and tax credits for certain constituencies (which the Foundation calls “picking winners and losers”).
So it’s no surprise that in its study of Trump’s and Clinton’s so-called “tax plans” the Foundation concluded that Trump’s was vastly superior to Hillary’s:
This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Wednesday, September 28, 2016:
The Democrat candidate said that the economy is on the mend, that jobs are being created, that real incomes have just recently increased, and that the outlook for the economy is sanguine.
The Republican candidate held the opposite view: after seven years the economy is still struggling, the recovery is the weakest in recent memory, and the outlook is bleak.
The Wall Street Journal noted that Trump’s case is the stronger,
This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Thursday, September 22, 2016:
Nate Silver accurately called the 2008 presidential election outcomes in 49 of the 50 states while in 2012 he did even better: he correctly predicted the winner in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia.
The blogger at FiveThirtyEight.com, Silver runs the numbers every day. On August 9 Silver calculated that Donald Trump had a 12.3 percent chance of winning the presidency in November compared to an 87.6 percent chance for Hillary Clinton. Less than six weeks later (as this is being written late Wednesday afternoon) Donald Trump now has a 42.7 percent chance of winning versus Hillary Clinton’s 57.2 percent. That’s a 30 percent surge for The Donald and a 30 percent drop for Hillary.
And this despite the Clinton campaign outspending Trump’s by five-to-one: $156.6 million by Clinton compared to just $33.6 million by Trump since the start of the campaign.
Part of Clinton’s problem, of course, is her likeability (of lack thereof) compared to Trump who, according to Republican ad-maker Fred Davis, is
This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Wednesday, August 31, 2016:
It was Tom Clancy who first brought the term “the old Potomac two-step” to the public’s attention in 1990 with the publication of Clear and Present Danger. The book was turned into a movie four years later. The relevant dialogue is:
The President: “You’ll take the blame. Cutter and Ritter will take some too, but it won’t amount to much, they’ll get a slap on the wrist. Then $20,000 an hour on the lecture circuit. The rest of the blame will fall on Greer. Oh yeah, you’ll take him down with you. You’ll destroy his reputation. But that’s as far as it will go. The old Potomac two-step, Jack.”
Jack Ryan: “I’m sorry, Mr. President, I don’t dance.”
John McCain, who began his political career in 1982 in Arizona after moving there following his retirement from the Navy, does dance. So well does he dance, in fact, that
This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Tuesday, August 30, 2016:
In Tuesday’s Republican Senate primary race in Arizona, incumbent John McCain is projected to crush his opponent, Kelli Ward. And he leads his likely Democrat opponent in the general election by double digits. Lesson: It’s helpful to learn the political two-step in order to stay in office for 34 years.
In July, Ward ran an old Romney attack ad against McCain which claimed that
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