December 20-21, 2017
Dec 20 03:32 Stephen Moore's theory Dec 20 04:43 ABM's deceitful advertising Dec 20 07:36 President Trump's bad year? Dec 20 09:32 Something to get excited about Dec 20 15:52 CNN: Tax cuts just like the ACA? Dec 21 04:24 Gov. Dayton, Lt. Gov. Smith ignore elder care facility abuse Dec 21 05:16 Demolishing Schumer's talking points in a single afternoon Dec 21 07:08 Joe Manchin must be confused
Prior Months: Jan Feb ~ May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Stephen Moore's theory
Stephen Moore's op-ed poses a difficult question that Democrats can't answer. Specifically, Moore asked "Why is it so hard to conceive that by lowering America's highest in the world business tax rate, firms will want to relocate to the United States?" The Democrats' argument against the GOP tax cut and reform plan is purely emotional. It doesn't have a thing to do with economic policy.
The first question that must be asked is this: what's causing businesses to relocate their headquarters to other countries? Once the Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts' policies are put into place, the corporate tax rate will drop from 35% to 21%. By contrast, Ireland's rate is 12.5%. It isn't that Democrats deny this. Frequently, they whine about companies relocating American jobs overseas. If the Democrats' goal was to fix this problem, their solution would be to make America's tax rate competitive.
Instead, the Democrats' prescription has been to whine about how corporations don't pay their fair share. They think that raising taxes on the wealthy is the right prescription. During the Obama administration, the mantra was that the rich weren't paying their fair share. It wasn't surprising that companies left for friendlier business climates. Moore emphasized that point in this paragraph:
One thing is for sure. China, Europe, Canada, Russia and Mexico don't want the Trump tax cuts to pass. These nations are firmly on the side of Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer on this one. Ireland, which has recruited dozens of major firms from America to places like Dublin with its 12.5 percent business tax rate, is terrified that Trump will succeed in lowering the American corporate tax rate to 21 percent. This is a tax bill that puts American business and American workers first. It's about time we stop foreigners from eating our lunch and stealing our jobs.
When thought about from strictly a fairness basis, the Democrats' argument isn't totally terrible. From a competitiveness standpoint, the Democrats' argument is indefensible.
Let's get something straight. The Democrats' whining about this bill will hurt them next November. The Democrats' argument has consistently been that cutting taxes on the wealthy hurts the middle class. What will the Democrats' argument change to when those companies that got the tax cuts that made them competitive again start hiring people? Will the Democrats' argument suddenly transition into 'the rich aren't paying their fair share'?
As the economy strengthens, Democrats will deny that President Trump's policies had anything to do with the surge. When that happens, Moore already has a reply waiting for the Democrats:
An economy that was growing at 1.6 percent when he entered office and never achieved a 3 percent growth rate in the previous decade is now already up to near 3.5 percent growth.
The Democrats don't have an answer for that. Instead, Democrats like Nancy Pelosi insist that it's the worst bill in the history of the Congress. Simply put, there isn't an honest bone in that woman's body.
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Posted Wednesday, December 20, 2017 3:32 AM
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ABM's deceitful advertising
When it comes to deceitful advertising, few organizations are more deceitful than the Alliance for a Better Minnesota. In their most recent ad, ABM ties the Trump tax cuts with education funding that's already been cut . It's astonishing to see that level of dishonesty. I wish I could say it's surprising but it isn't. It's what's expected.
If it's to be believed, K-12 Education was cut by the GOP legislature and Gov. Dayton during the special session in anticipation of the Republicans passing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which ABM insists will have an injurious effect on state funding of K-12 Education.
There's so many flaws in that thinking that I can't call it logic. ABM's ad features a teacher named Annaka Larson. Ms. Larson identifies herself as "a first grade teacher at Wellstone Elementary in St. Paul." Ms. Larson then says "Because our schools are already underfunded and the Republican tax bill will potentially take even more money away from Minnesota schools, I do buy a lot of school supplies out of my own pocket."
It'd be interesting to hear Ms. Larson explain how the Republican tax bill that pertains only to federal taxes might cut K-12 Education funding that's funded by the state of Minnesota. Rather than transcribe the whole video, I'll just let you watch it. Here it is:
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The DFL's advertising has nothing to do with the truth. It has everything to do with tugging on people's heartstrings by dishonestly implying that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will lead to draconian cuts in K-12 Education funding. The DFL: all they have to offer is deceit itself.
Posted Wednesday, December 20, 2017 4:43 AM
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President Trump's bad year?
The MSM have constantly criticized President Trump, mostly for his tweets but also for his lack of legislative accomplishments. Yesterday, the House and Senate passed the most sweeping tax policy changes in a generation. (Because of a couple provisions that ran afoul of the Senate's parliamentarian, the Senate had to make a couple changes to the bill before voting on final passage. Because the 2 bills aren't perfectly aligned, the House will vote this morning on the bill the Senate passed last night.) Once the identical bill is passed in both the House and Senate, it will be sent to the White House for President Trump's signature.
This article is the first of its kind in the MSM, which has been all-criticism-all-the-time until now. Let's get started with the things Axios reports President Trump has gotten right. First, Axios reports that "The tax bill passed with almost unanimous Republican support, before the end of the year, and in keeping with mostly mainstream conservative orthodoxy. Trump won a bigger corporate tax break than either Bush ever got, and will sign the most consequential new tax law in 30 years."
Without question, this is a signature issue that's worth trumpeting to the world. The economy is already going strong. It's about to get stronger. While the Berniecrats advocate for stifling tax rate hikes and slow economic growth, President Trump and the Republicans are pushing policies that have consumer confidence soaring, 401(k)s growing, small business enthusiasm increasing and big corporations returning to the United States. It won't take long for people to notice that their lives just got better. This is another major accomplishment:
Trump has followed through on eviscerating regulations, many of them imposed by Obama. He has revoked 67, and delayed or derailed more than 1,500 others.
This has helped spur economic growth. It's the single-biggest reason why the economy is robustly growing thus far. All the time that the MSM highlighted that Trump didn't have any major legislative accomplishments, President Trump worked with Congress to eliminate tons of counterproductive regulations. That's the single-biggest reason why economic growth took off when he took over from President Obama.
This is the biggest accomplishment for full-spectrum conservatives:
Trump has tilted the court rightward in lasting ways. Justice Neil Gorsuch was a substantial, conservative addition to the Supreme Court. And it wasn't a one-off: The dozen new U.S. Circuit Court judges he has named is the most during a president's first year in office in more than a century.
It's impossible to overstate this accomplishment. President Trump worked with the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society to pull together a ton of highly qualified judicial nominees. In his first year alone, he's got conservatives thrilled with his nominees. (Noteworthy: For all those criticizing Mitch McConnell, his understanding of Senate procedures and bold decisions have contributed mightily to this accomplishment.)
Before wrapping up this post, I highly recommend you watch the first 2+ minutes of this video:
Isn't it fun watching Gutfeld stick the shiv into liberals, then giving it a sharp twist?
Posted Wednesday, December 20, 2017 7:36 AM
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Something to get excited about
My conservative friends, it's time to be honest about a few things. It's time we admitted that the first 6 months of the Trump administration were stressful, sometimes heartbreaking times. When Sen. McCain gave the thumbs-down to eliminating Obamacare, Republicans' spirits were pretty low. It's also time we admitted that the past 6 months have improved significantly. The highlight of the first 6 months was confirming Justice Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. The past 6 months, though, have been just as consequential to the judiciary.
Since confirming Justice Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, the Senate has confirmed 12 highly qualified judges to the appellate courts, the most confirmations in the first year of a president's term in office since our republic was established. To steal a slightly modified version of Joe Biden's phrase, it's a big deal to change the direction of the federal judiciary for a generation or more. Hold that thought, though.
Next, picture Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. The thought of a Senate Majority Leader Schumer should frighten conservatives who care about the court more than a Speaker Pelosi. Seriously. Pelosi can't pass anything that can't be undone the minute Republicans retake control, most likely in 2020. Sen. Schumer, though, can halt the confirmation of great conservative judges in a heartbeat. Judges like Gorsuch, Willett and others would be flushed down the toilet in a heartbeat because Sen. Schumer would demand 'consensus' judges. That's liberalspeak for liberal judges in the mold of David Souter.
That's just one thing that should get Republicans fired up. Another thing that should get us fired up is undoing more of the Obama legacy. I don't have to be the world's greatest salesperson to convince Republicans that Obamacare and Dodd-Frank were disastrous pieces of legislation. In order to kill those bills outright, we need the House and Senate under GOP control.
Thus far, the MSM has insisted that there's a blue wave building. I haven't bought into that, though I agree that there's an enthusiasm gap favoring Democrats right now. The good news is that Republicans can make that disappear in a heartbeat if they get inspired to turn out and vote for a new wave of GOP senators, congressmen, state legislators and governors. Picture this guy getting sworn in as Minnesota's next governor:
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Whether you support him or not, there's no disputing that, as a conservative, I'd rather have him as governor as opposed to having her as our next governor:
Making Minnesota great is totally possible. Making America great is possible, too. Now's the time to realize just how much we've accomplished in DC thanks to one-party rule. Now's the time to realize how much more we could've accomplished in St. Paul if we'd had a Republican to go along with Republican majorities in the House and Senate.
Posted Wednesday, December 20, 2017 9:32 AM
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CNN: Tax cuts just like the ACA?
If there wasn't video of Suzanne Malveaux saying it, I wouldn't have believed she'd said something so stupid. During Ms. Malveaux's reporting, she stated "Make no mistake about this. This is very similar to what we saw in 2010 with Democrats and Obamacare, which was highly unpopular and it was along partisan lines, many people, including Nancy Pelosi, saying that they hadn't read the bill in its entirety. Well, now Republicans, they too are looking at this very unpopular legislation, are making the case that as more people learn more about it, or see or feel the effects of it, the more that they will approve or like it."
With all due respect to Ms. Malveaux, the Tax Cut and Jobs Act is virtually totally dissimilar from the ACA. With the ACA, the government told people that they had to either buy a product they didn't choose to buy or they'd pay a fine for not buying a product they didn't want to buy. With these tax cuts, the government is telling people that they can keep more of the money that they earned. I'd love hearing Ms. Malveaux explain how being told that you can keep the money you earned is the same as being told that you have to spend the money you've earned in a way that the government tells you to spend it.
Like I said, they're virtually opposites.
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Meanwhile, Democrats are betting that the media's biased reporting will create a wave that will help them win back a majority in either the House or Senate. That's a terrible bet:
The passage of an unpopular GOP tax bill going into a hostile midterm election rings with discomforting familiarity. It's 2010 all over again, but in a starkly reverse image.
In August, 2009, the American people showed up at town hall meetings and told Democrats not to pass the ACA. When did anyone show up at a taxes town hall and do this?
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It didn't happen with taxes. It repeatedly happened with Obamacare. Again, the comparisons are ridiculous. Later, at the same townhall meeting, this young lady spoke:
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Then Steve Israel said this :
Having failed to pass any significant measures to excite their base, Republicans are caught between probably losing their majority next year by passing no bill and possibly losing their majority next year by passing a bad bill. It's a dangerous midterm calculation when you have to throw a bone to your base that a broad majority of voters are choking on.
I'd be remiss if I didn't remind people that Israel chaired the DCCC in 2012 and 2014. Those weren't great years for Democrats so his analysis isn't bulletproof by any stretch. Finally, there's this:
In March 2010, there was explosive applause on the House floor when ObamaCare passed. In the Members Only elevator returning us to our offices, Republicans had Cheshire Cat grins. They knew that we may have won the legislative battle, but we may have lost our majority.
Republicans knew in 2009 that Democrats had lost their majority. I remember talking with Michael Barone about how the polling hadn't moved much since August, 2009. Sure, there were some ups and downs but they weren't high highs, just extremely low lows for Democrats. We haven't seen anything like that this cycle.
Further, Republicans had a positive agenda to run on in 2010. Democrats are still fighting amongst themselves about whether impeaching President Trump is enough or whether they need a socialist economic message needs to be included. Whichever direction Democrats take, they'll be forced to take an unpopular path to the majority.
Posted Wednesday, December 20, 2017 3:52 PM
Comment 1 by JerryE9 at 21-Dec-17 12:19 PM
There seems to be a widening consensus among Democrats that they not only need to impeach Trump but to TAKE AWAY the tax cuts that everybody will be seeing all next year. Please, please throw us in that briar patch! Remember, the rich folks from blue states who will pay more won't see that until April 2019, AFTER the election. Until then, everybody will be seeing more money in their pockets.
Yes, it is opposite the ACA. Republicans won promising repeal. Democrats lose promising repeal of the tax cuts.
Gov. Dayton, Lt. Gov. Smith ignore elder care facility abuse
According to this article , a series of articles on elder abuse in the Strib has Gov. Dayton incensed. As a result of these articles, Dr. Ed Ehlinger, now Minnesota's former Health Commissioner, resigned his position .
I was stunned when I read "Ehlinger's resignation comes after media reports, including a five-part series in the Minneapolis-based Star Tribune, found residents of senior care facilities statewide were neglected, abused and robbed, but the perpetrators were often never punished and in most instances complaints were never properly investigated. The state Department of Health is responsible for licensing and oversight of senior care centers."
It's fair to ask what responsibility Tina Smith has in this. Smith will soon move on from her job as Lt. Gov. Prior to that, though, she was Gov. Dayton's Chief-of-Staff, the gatekeeper to the governor, the attention-to-detail person. According to MPR's article, "The move comes weeks after a Minneapolis Star Tribune series exposed widespread elder abuse in Minnesota nursing care facilities that for years was systematically ignored ." This wasn't something that started recently. It sounds like it's been happening since Gov. Dayton took over as governor and Smith took over as his Chief of Staff.
They're the team that's responsible for making sure that these facilities are operating smoothly. These facilities are part of the Executive Branch, meaning the proverbial buck stops with them. Instead of discovering and fixing these facilities problems, elderly people "were neglected, abused and robbed." In some cases, "the perpetrators were often never punished and in most instances complaints were never properly investigated."
By comparison, Karin Housley, the "chairwoman of the Senate Aging and Long-Term Care Policy Committee," has "called for an investigation into management practices at the Health Department after receiving reports of bullying at the agency." Sen. Housley has officially announced that she's running in the 2018 special election for Sen. Franken's seat. The question before Minnesotans is whether Minnesotans can trust a person who was in a position of authority and either did nothing or knew nothing (Lt. Gov. Smith) about the elder abuse or whether they'd prefer a state senator who initiated an investigation into this scandal the minute she found out about it.
This information is frightening:
A Minnesota lawmaker says a state manager whose bureau oversees investigations into abuse and neglect in nursing homes was fired after she blew the whistle on a "toxic culture" that was an obstacle to ensuring that officials do a better job protecting residents of senior care facilities.
Who fired this whistleblower? What motivated that person to terminate the whistleblower right before the whistleblower was about to "meet with an investigator looking into widespread reported problems with how Minnesota investigates reports of elder abuse, including assault, neglect and theft."
Let's think about this a minute. "Nancy Omondi was fired days before she was to meet with an investigator looking into widespread reported problems with how Minnesota investigates" elder abuse. This reeks of high-level political cover-up. How high this goes is unknowable at this point. Still, Ms. Omandi held a high-ranking position:
According to state records, Omondi was employed from Sept. 19, 2016, to Nov. 29, 2017, as director of the Health Regulation Division. The division oversees several bureaus, including the Health Systems Bureau, which oversees the Office of Health Facilities Complaints, the office that investigates reports of abuse and neglect against patients and residents of care facilities.
What's amazing is that this organizational chart already reflects the fact that Ms. Omondi was fired. The organizational chart is updated in a timely fashion but reports of abuse literally went years in some instances without getting investigated.
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At the end of the video, the KARE11 reporter said that more transparency is needed. The reporter also said that what's needed is a change in the culture of the investigative bodies. It's impossible to argue with either statement.
Originally posted Thursday, December 21, 2017, revised 27-Dec 6:42 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 22-Dec-17 09:52 AM
The perps are private sector profiteers, Gary. Why not see them first. Instead, you want more regulation. Strange.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 22-Dec-17 10:31 AM
I didn't say anything about more regulation. I'm talking about more attention being paid to the situation, coupled with better enforcement of existing laws. This isn't that complicated.
Demolishing Schumer's talking points in a single afternoon
It's been almost a week since Chuck Schumer started complaining that the Trump tax cuts only benefit the rich. That storyline got obliterated in a lethal Twitter storm within an hour of the House passing the tax cuts. First, here's a little background . "Telecom giant AT&T was quick to respond to news of U.S. tax reform, announcing it would give some employees bonuses once the legislation is signed into law. AT&T said in a press release Wednesday that it would give more than 200,000 of its U.S. workers who are union members a special bonus of $1,000. The company also increased its capital expenditures budget by $1 billion in the U.S."
There's no doubt that A T&T is doing this in part because they're hoping to get their merger approved. Still, this is a shrewd PR strategy. A T&T isn't the only company capitalizing on the tax cuts legislation passing. According to that article, "AT&T, Comcast and a handful of companies said they would use tax reform to give money to their employees and increase capital spending. Wells Fargo and Fifth Third said they would raise their minimum wage. Analysts expect other banks to follow, as well as other companies that will get a boost from the tax law changes."
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About that Twitter storm. CNBC tweeted:
JUST IN: Fifth Third Bancorp announces plan "to raise its minimum hourly wage for all employees to $15, and distribute a one-time bonus of $1,000 for more than 13,500 employees" following passage of tax bill.
http://cnbc.com/id/104910079
ComfortablySmug tweeted:
Turns out the fight for fifteen isn't won through union bosses and strikes, but through tax cuts and free markets.
CNBC tweeted this:
JUST IN: Wells Fargo hikes its hourly pay rate to $15 & will aim for $400M in philanthropic donations next year due to the newly-passed GOP tax bill. http://cnbc.com/id/104910079
Those greedy billionaires and evil corporations simply refuse to be good corporate citizens. They should be ashamed of themselves for increasing wages, paying out Christmas bonuses and contributing tens of millions of dollars to various philanthropic causes. It doesn't get much more despicable than that.
Posted Thursday, December 21, 2017 5:16 AM
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Joe Manchin must be confused
According to this article , Sen. Manchin seems more than a little confused about what his position is about the Trump tax cuts. That isn't the only confusion happening in Sen. Manchin's mind . When "West Virginia radio talk show host Hoppy Kercheval asked the senator why he opposed legislation that will benefit the 'vast majority' of taxpayers and businesses in the state", Sen. Manchin admitted "There's some good in this bill. I acknowledge that."
Apparently, Sen. Manchin isn't ashamed of talking out of both sides of his mouth. According to the article, "Manchin's official Twitter account posted the tweet Wednesday morning, one day after the senator voted against the GOP tax-cut plan. But by the afternoon, the office had deleted that picture and reposted the tweet with a picture of the two men standing alongside each other, instead of one where the two men were giving a thumbs-up sign."
I'd love hearing Sen. Manchin explain why he voted against the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act after saying that the bill has "some good in the bill." I'd especially love hearing Sen. Manchin explain why he'd pose for a picture with a big thumbs up with President Trump, then vote against the bill that he said had "some good in this bill."
At the end of this interview, Speaker Ryan said that, at the end, he thought they might get Sen. Manchin's vote for the tax cuts:
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Apparently, the terms moderate Democrats and Blue Dog Democrats essentially don't exist.
Posted Thursday, December 21, 2017 7:08 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 22-Dec-17 09:50 AM
Republican-lite is confusing.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 22-Dec-17 10:33 AM
Actually, being a man of little integrity is confusing. Then again, being a man of passionate, ill-advised beliefs (think socialism, aka Bernie) isn't any better than being dishonest.
Comment 2 by eric z at 22-Dec-17 01:38 PM
Democratic socialism is a very honest and integrated world view. Just as some could segue from Never-Trump to embrace the man, and Pence likely calling the shots, one may grow to see the TRUE light - as an epiphany on the way to Damascus.
You would be welcome into the democratic socialism world, Gary, all you'd have to do is make the transit.
Response 2.1 by Gary Gross at 22-Dec-17 03:58 PM
Why would I embrace a system that's always failed? I prefer things that work. You should learn from this guy:
Socialists think there's such a thing as a free lunch. There isn't. It's true that, with socialism, some costs are craftily hidden but they still exist. Similarly, socialism is betting against human nature. That's why it relies heavily on forcing people to do things socialists deem as worthwhile. While that might work in the short-term, it always fails in the long-term.
There's an old saying that says socialists don't mind the poor getting poorer as long as the rich stop getting rich. The capitalist doesn't mind the rich getting richer as long as the poor have a chance of getting rich, too. By that standard, isn't capitalism more humane than socialism?
