Posse Incitatus

Adios to a Tumultuous Year

I do have some critical things to say about my alma mater, as I alluded to in a previous post, with regard to a heinous sexual abuse scandal involving sports medicine physician Dr. Larry Nassar. But this being New Year's Eve, I decided to hold off on that for a couple of days. Instead, a few comments on the year in review.

Like millions of others who voted for Donald Trump on Nov. 8, 2016, I didn't know for sure whether his would be a good presidency. Many of us had doubts about Mr. Trump's lack of political experience, massive ego, narcissism, and uneven temperament. But with all of his shortcomings and missteps, there was no doubt he (or almost anyone else) was preferable to the execrable, thoroughly corrupt and mendacious Hillary Clinton.

Fast forward to the end of 2017, just 3 weeks short of 1 year in office for the Trumpster, and the vast majority of us are pretty darned pleased with Trump's accomplishments thus far.

Just as he promised to do, Trump nominated a staunch and respected conservative, Neil Gorsuch, to the U.S. Supreme Court to fill the seat of the late Antonin Scalia. Trump has also fought to crack down on illegal immigration and stem the inflow of immigrants from seven countries that have too often exported terrorists to our shores. Trump has put sanctuary cities on notice that they are at risk of losing federal funding if they continue breaking the law, and his administration also has brought pressure to bear on the many arrogant and pompous universities that think it's fine for left-wing ideologues to suppress conservatives' free speech. What's not to like?

On the economic front, Trump appointed conservative law professor Neomi Rao administrator to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, part of the Office of Management & Budget. She has spearheaded an aggressive attack on the thicket of job-killing regulations implemented by the Obama administration.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is a shining example of Trump cabinet members who have mounted a no-holds-barred attack on the statist nightmare of regulatory hell. The EPA will no longer kowtow to global warming fantasies, and has halted the Obama administration's hostility to coal-fired power plants. The administration has also put to good use the Congressional Review Act, part of Newt Gingrich's Contract With America, to quickly jettison harmful regulations.

To those upset metrosexual progressives with their neatly trimmed beards and fashionable Birkenstocks who drive their Subaru's to the Starbucks for a skinny caramel Macchiato soy latte...TOUGH SHIT! Cry me a river!

In addition to cutting regulations, Trump and the GOP Congress passed a major tax cut / tax reform bill. The bitter losers of the Democrat Party lied about what a disaster this bill was, even though the Tax Policy Center estimates more than 80 percent of taxpayers will get a tax cut. And for liberals who decry the bill as a giveaway to corporations, how about this for positive, tangible results: Many corporations, including AT&T, Boeing, Wells Fargo Bank and Fifth Third Bank, have granted major bonuses to their employees and raised their minimum salary levels to $15 per hour.

Amidst all of the substantive, positive changes being implemented by the Trump administration, the vermin mainstream media continues on a 24/7 mission to bash the Trumpster and dump on his supporters. We have witnessed a rash of inaccurate news reports followed by corrections or retractions, and in some cases, reporters getting sacked. Trump has lashed out with unvarnished remarks during press conferences, in interviews, and on Twitter.

The locking of horns on Twitter among the Left and Right has become a sewer of profanity, rage and seething hatred. Many friendships and relationships have been irretrievably shattered by political differences.

Without a doubt, democracy and self governance can be messy, loud and unsettling. But for those of us who are old enough to remember the pre-Internet, pre-talk radio and pre-cable & satellite TV world, the raucous cacophony is music to our ears. I'll take conservative blowhards spouting off on Rush Limbaugh's program or the American Thinker website, ANY DAY, over presumptuous anchors on ABC, NBC & CBS pompously declaring, "That's the way it is" on (pick your 1960s or 1970s date)...

This is one helluva cauldron we're in, but my co-blogger and I still feel pretty damned optimistic that things are careening noisily in the right direction.

Iranian rumblings

Is Iran in the early stages of a popular uprising?

It's hard to tell - partly because the mainstream press is entirely on the side of the Mad Mullahs.  Should the theocrats be driven from power, that might make Trump look good, which is intolerable.

I've noted before that the single most important characteristic of the Obama administration was its incompetence, and its reaction to the Iranian rising in 2009 is a great example of this.

Partly this was because like other progressives, Obama considered anti-American movements to be more "authentic" than pro-Western ones.  Thus, if he could make a deal with an implacable enemy, that would be far better than supporting a populist pro-Western rising.

This was why he embraced the overthrow of pro-American Arab governments.  The Muslim Brotherhood is authentic, the Egyptians on the street who simply want affordable bread are not.

Obviously, Donald Trump is altogether different in his approach, which is best described as traditional realpolitik - work to strengthen the nation at home and conduct foreign policy with the US national interest as the primary concern.

Friendly regimes gain aid while hostile ones can expect a cold shoulder.  This approach doesn't preclude working to ease tensions with responsible adversaries, but rogue regimes (like Iran) can expect little sympathy or trust.

I do not exaggerate by noting that if Iran were to overthrow its religious government, the implications would be profound.  Iran is an ancient and cultured society with long-standing traditions of openness and tolerance.  Iran was once Israel's only Muslim ally and a restoration of that relationship coupled with the end of the Sunni-Shia standoff would transform the region.

With all of these positives, it is telling how unwilling progressives are to embrace this possibility, particularly in the media.  This is because - as always - their primary concern is domestic politics, particularly the Obama legacy.  If the mullahs fall and the nuclear program is dismantled, Donald Trump's prestige will get an enormous boost while Obama will face awkward questions about why he didn't do this in 2009.

 

Trump's Christmas miracle: Democrats now love tax cuts for the rich

As my co-blogger pointed out earlier in the week, this is the time of year when I take a break from worldly pursuits and spend more time with family and friends.

I think that the reason our society seems so angry and fragmented is that so few people do this.  Instead they live on social media and stoke their rage 24/7 all year long without interruption.  Every day there's a new cause to get upset about and someone's life has to be ruined.  It's nice to take a vacation from that and live in the real world - one where people talk face to face about things outside of a political prism.

And what do I see upon my return, but a miracle of biblical proportions!  The Democrats - long famous for their battle cry of "soak the rich!" - are now whining about tax increases on the super-wealthy.

It ain't parting the Red Sea, but it's pretty impressive.

Since the adoption of the Sixteenth Amendment, the US tax code has essentially been the plaything of special interests.  Prior to its adoption, federal taxing authority was highly limited.  Federal revenue came primarily from tariffs, excise taxes and levies assigned to the states based on population.

This latter indirect form of taxation gave state legislatures control over the method by which the required funds were raised.

Now of course we have an increasingly centralized and corrupt national government instead of a limited federated one, and this is where so many of our problems crop up.

As income tax became the major vehicle for federal revenue, people began gaming it and one of the biggest dodges are the exemptions.  One that few people are aware of is the fact that hitherto, people in high-tax states could deduct their state and local taxes from their federal income tax liability.

Thus if one lived in a high-tax state like California, one didn't actually pay the full cost because the state payment counted against the federal one.  It was nothing more than a subsidy to high-tax states payed by low-tax ones.

President Trump rightfully pushed for an end to this corrupt practice and Congress gave is assent.

Naturally, wealthy progressives are screaming bloody murder.  This is why millionairesses like Rosie O'Donnell are so pissed - it's their money on the line.

The hypocrisy here is wide and deep.  These are the same people who never met a tax hike they didn't like and used to run around claiming that real patriots love higher taxes.  But now that a lucrative tax shelter is being swept away, it's the End of the Republic.

Of course, progressives are being characteristically dishonest about this, complaining that corporations are benefiting while the middle class gets screwed.  Here again we see their typical lies.

The fact is that the middle class is already largely exempt from federal income tax, a trend that has been going on for a while.  This is partly while "middle class tax cuts" don't have the electoral pull they did a decade ago - there just isn't that much gain in them.

This is why Trump's overhaul increased the Earned Income Tax Credit, which isn't really a tax credit at all, but a subsidy paid out to low-income people through the tax code.  For those who favor a Universal Basic Income, we already have it in the EITC.  When people below a certain income level file their tax return, they get a refund on money they never paid in and this can amount to a significant amount of income.

There is no doubt a certain amount of partisan cynicism in play as well, since GOP-friendly states tend to have lower taxes while high-tax jurisdictions are increasingly the wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Democrat Party, but if one takes a step back, wasn't the reverse also true?

Why should Democrat-controlled jurisdictions get a federal tax shelter denied to more fiscally-responsible states?  It is telling that despite these confiscatory tax rates, Democrat-ruled satrapies are also on the brink of bankruptcy.  Their financial ineptitude is legendary and it's only a matter of time before their unfunded liabilities - which they willingly assumed - crush them.

Ideally, the Sixteenth Amendment would be repealed and the US would return to a system of taxation that explicitly forbids discriminating among the states.  I don't see that happening any time soon, but perhaps the Dems - having tasted the other side of the equation - might be more willing to entertain it.

Spartan Sports Update

There are some serious and scandalous matters going on at my alma mater, Michigan State University, and I will comment on them later this week.

But for now, I am going to take a break from bad news and cynical politics to talk about a point of pride for Michigan State students and alumni: The football team (No. 18 AP, No. 16 in the  ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll) and the men's basketball team (No. 2 in both polls), are doing us proud.

Consider the context of this glorious season: Our gridiron heroes spoiled us in 2013, 2014 and 2015, finishing those seasons ranked No. 3, No. 6, and No. 6, respectively. But then they nosedived in 2016, finishing 3-9. A lack of talent, injuries, bad team chemistry and off-field problems plagued the team. Off-field legal troubles and misbehavior by players repeatedly tarnished the program's reputation throughout the miserable winter of 2017. By the time the spring practices and scrimmage game rolled around, fans wanted badly to put the ugliness behind them.

Many fans would have been happy to have a trouble-free team that finished 6-6 in Fall 2017. I thought 8-4 was a possible ceiling, if the breaks went our way, but figured 7-5 was likely. So the 9-3 finish to the 2017 regular season was far better than most of us anticipated, and included two bonuses: a victory at Michigan, and a home win against a talented Penn State team that had been ranked as high as No. 2 a few weeks earlier.

Tonight I will join my co-blogger, K.N. McBride, in front of the flat screen for the Holiday Bowl, when our beloved Spartans take on the Washington State Cougars. We will tip a few celebratory libations, not just because we're enjoying the spectacle of college football, but to ring in the new year, revel in our nearly two-decade friendship, and to celebrate the fact that I recently landed a new job that's a huge improvement over my employment of the past few years. (Possibly more on that later!)

Washington State is also 9-3, and is known for its pass-oriented offense. That does not bode well for Michigan State, which has an above-average secondary, but a weak pass rush. I believe the Spartans need to be super-aggressive with their defensive game plan, utilizing the cornerback blitz and an unpredictable array of alignments such as the 3-3-5 defense to befuddle WSU.

On offense, MSU could do itself a huge favor if it establishes a running game to eat up the clock and keep WSU's high-octane offense off the field. But the Spartan offensive line has not been dominant in run-blocking, so the ground game could stall. If it does, MSU must be willing to pass on first down and try some reverses and trick plays. Sophomore quarterback Brian Lewerke has the talent and the capable receiving corps to shred the Cougar secondary, and if he gets on a roll, the running game can't help but benefit, too.

We'll see how it goes. MSU is a 3.5-point underdog, and that seems reasonable. But when teams from different conferences meet each other, it's difficult to predict the outcome. Based on Mark Dantonio's stellar track record for having the Spartans well prepared for their games, I'll be a homer and predict the green-n-white wins, 31-30.

As for MSU basketball, I am pleased with most of what I've seen so far. The 12-1 Spartans lost by 8 to Duke early in the season, mainly because the Blue Devils out-rebounded them 42-30, including a 22-8 domination on the offensive boards. Tom Izzo's teams pride themselves on rebounding, so to be beaten that badly in that category is shocking. On the positive side, the Spartans have dominated in most of their other games, including 18-point wins vs. defending national champion North Carolina and Top 25 Notre Dame.

Freshman Jaren Jackson, a 6'11' shot-blocking sensation who will certainly be a high NBA draft pick in the spring, also has proved to be a great rebounder and solid 3-point shooter. He has a knack for hitting clutch shots from long-range. Jackson's interior defense is a big reason why the Spartans look like they'll live up to their billing as a certain Final Four team, and a squad with a very real chance of winning it all. Already, Jackson has tied the MSU record for blocked shots in one game (eight) set more than 30 years ago.

His ultra-hyped counterpart, sophomore forward Miles Bridges, has battled a few minor injuries to put in a solid, but not phenomenal, performance thus far. He's averaging an impressive 16.8 points per game, but most observers would agree, there's a lot more where that came from. Bridges definitely needs to be more aggressive in moving inside and taking it to the rack, rather than passively hurling up 3-point shots.

Sophomore point guard Cassius Winston is shooting a sizzling 55 percent behind the arc, and versatile bulldog forward Nick Ward continues to rack up lots of points (but certainly not style points). This team is loaded with contributors.

The biggest problem I can see with the Spartans is that turnovers continue to plague them. This is a long-time issue with Izzo's squads, and I believe it's not so much poor ball-handling skills; it's that Izzo constantly juggles lineups. Rather than getting into a groove and being thoroughly familiar with teammates' tendencies as they run a plethora of offensive sets, players keep having to adjust their play and expectations to fit in with a mix-n-match potpourri of teammates. Turnovers can kill a team as much as poor defense and poor free throw shooting, so I hope MSU gets a handle on the problem.

As I have stated for many months, this squad has the most talent, and best chance to win the championship, of any Izzo squads since his 2000 national championship team. I foresee an epic rematch with Duke, and for the first time in more than a decade, MSU will be equal to the Blue Devils in talent, and have a great shot at defeating their long-time nemesis. Regrettably, Izzo's squads have made it to many Final Fours without having nearly enough talent to defeat the giants -- in particular North Carolina and Duke -- which often send five, six or seven players to the NBA and then reload. This years is different, and at age 62, Izzo may not get another shot at winning his second NC. I'd give him good odds at achieving his dream.

Merry Christmas!

From my intrepid co-blogger and me, Merry Christmas to all Posse readers. We don't know who you are, how many of you are out there, or what you think of our commentary. But we do appreciate your spending a little time checking us out.

In this darkest time of the year, a few days after the winter solstice, we are blessed with the joy of giving, rooted in love and concern for our fellow human beings. We are inspired to give because of God's gift to humanity -- Jesus Christ -- which for believers, is a thoroughly comforting and reassuring reality.

Just as it's often difficult to appreciate our blessings unless we've been through some hard times, it is sometimes tough to fathom how much God loves us, and to contrast the blessing of faith with the very real threat of living a life absent of hope and devoid of meaning. The beautiful Christmas lights, Christmas hymns and Christmas carols, along with the delight of little children and the bountiful, succulent food we enjoy this time of year are all the more incredible given the backdrop of cold, dreary days and more darkness than we'd prefer (at least, for those of us in the northern hemisphere!).

K.N. McBride often takes a little breather from posting this time of year to spend more time with his family, and that's fine. I can't guarantee I will show up on here more than a couple of times in the next week, but I guess it depends on what's happening in our world.

We all need some time to power down and seek rest, rejuvenation and in some cases, contemplation. This is the ideal time of year to do so.

I have a few topics I want to address in the next few days, but no sense of urgency to get to them. For now, once again, MERRY CHRISTMAS and a happy, healthy New Year to you and yours!

 

A speculative look at the 2016 campaign conspiracy

While the first draft of history is often essential to conveying the thoughts of the participants and the public perception of events as they unfolded, they are almost always incorrect.  It is only later that we learn the full story (or as much of it as we can find).

With the latest series of revelations regarding the RUSSIA dossier, it seems to me a useful thought exercise to go back and put these events in a broader context.  This will perhaps illustrate just how remarkable Donald Trump's victory was as well as the deep corruption within the Obama administration.

Caveats

Before proceeding, I must emphasize that this is entirely speculative.  I'm not going to annotate or bookmark everything because that would only bog things down.  I ask potential libel attorneys to treat this as a work of fiction, specifically alternative history because none of what I write can be set down as irrefutable fact.

In line with this, I am proceeding from a number of assumptions which remain open to dispute.

The first is that the Clinton campaign had only two core competencies:  Raising money and destroying internal opposition.  Beyond this, they were stunningly inept.

(Note that I omit savvy media skills because any Democrat will be credited with this.  One thing we now know is that political reporters regularly submitted their stories to Team Clinton for approval and that their editors were absolutely fine with this.  If the "mainstream" press cared at all about their reputation as neutral observers, there would have been a raft of firings and the people responsible would have been unemployable.  That this didn't happen speaks volumes.)

The second is that the federal bureaucracy is completely corrupt.  As we've seen with the latest revelations of gross prosecutorial misconduct in the Clive Bundy case, the Ted Stevens case, the FBI crime lab and of course the IRS scandal.  The problem is not that "bad apples" do their thing; it is that those responsible are never punished.  This establishes a culture where anything goes.

With that out of the way, let us begin.

The Situation: Summer, 2015

In retrospect, Donald Trump's success in the GOP primaries is easy to explain:  He was the only candidate willing to talk about trade and immigration.  Scott Walker flirted with the idea but was told by his backers to shut up and his candidacy immediately collapsed.

Trump was widely hated by the GOP establishment, however, so his victory was hardly a given.  Instead, the three front-runners were generally regarded as Rubio, Cruz and of course Jeb Bush.

Meanwhile, we now know that the Democrat primary was an exercise in Kabuki.  Joe Biden's testing of the waters wasn't about his obligation to his late son or any of the nonsense the media reported, it was about discovering that the DNC had already been reduced to a vassal state of the Clinton campaign.  Trying to unwind that while taking on the GOP for Obama's third term was seen as too much for Biden, who took a pass.

There is indication that the intelligence agencies paid particular attention to the campaign at this early date.  They were likely still absorbed trying to salvage the US strategic position in Syria, Iraq and the South China Sea.  Obama's people were trying to burnish his reputation, nothing more.

One year later:  June, 2016

The strategic environment at this point was totally transformed.  Trump had systematically destroyed every one of his opponents, but had opened serious rifts in the GOP while doing so.  At the same time, the Sanders campaign was creating its own schism within the Democrat ranks.  Sanders never had the killer instinct necessary to take on Hillary, but he was tenacious. 

It's interesting to speculate what would have happened if the Associated Press hadn't put both its thumbs on the scale and declared Hillary the nominee (due to super-delegates) the day before the California primary.

At any rate, by this point the GOP establishment was in disarray.  Their opposition research project with Fusion GPS had produced nothing actionable, so they dropped it.  Fusion GPS then turned to the Dems and offered to build upon what they already had.  This offer was accepted.

The assumption within the White House was that Hillary would coast to an easy victory against Trump, whose own party was on the brink of civil war.  Nascent Quisling Never Trumpers feverishly dreamed up improbably schemes where Trump was denied the nomination in a delegate vote and (to get ahead a little bit) then tried to draft stalking horse candidates to throw the election to Hillary.

Under the circumstances, it's hard to understand why the administration would take the unprecedented step of using the national security apparatus to monitor Trump's campaign, but the simplest explanation was that they did it because they could.

At no point in the preceding eight years had Obama not availed himself of an opportunity to exercise power, legally or otherwise.  Ruling by decree was becoming a habit and besides, who would investigate it?  Hillary might not relish being told after the fact that she had gotten a big push from Obama, but she wouldn't be pissed enough to open up an investigation that would tarnish her victory.

Comey:  The Bumbling Clinton Ally

At the same time Hillary was wrapping up the nomination, the FBI was busy covering up her email scandal.  FBI chief James Comey was working to find every excuse to render the case moot, both by downplaying its seriousness and by offering immunity deals that would render prosecution impossible.  When he made his final statement in July, no one observing it could imagine that it had been drafted in advance of the investigation.

Comey himself figured it preserved his reputation but also got Hillary of the hook, which was key.

The problem Comey faced was that when Anthony Weiner finally self-destructed later on, the email issue resurfaced.  Having said that there was no ill intent, he had to find a way to:

1.  Appear to take the matter seriously, and

2. Clear Hillary a second time.

His solution was typically inept - opening and then closing it during the final stretch of the campaign.  Hillary would list this as one of the myriad things that cost her the campaign, but at the time her lead appeared insurmountable.  Comey - like everyone else - figured she would win and could afford to sacrifice a couple of style points.

The Trumpening and its Aftermath

It's hard to overstate the shock and disbelief that attended Trump's victory.  In preparation for this post, I re-read some of the comment threads on election night.  Not only were people amazed by the fact of his victory, but the extent of it - shattering the Blue Wall of the Upper Midwest - was hard to accept or understand.

In the hours following this momentous event, the participants were too stunned to think things through.  One of the few bright spots in this whole sordid episode is the fact that even with all of the corruption, force of habit dictated that Hillary concede and that the Obama administration appear gracious in defeat.

It was only later that the RUSSIA story emerged, and this was not just because Hillary's partisans had agreed it needed an excuse - it was also because the FBI and national security apparatus realized that the change of administrations would reveal their dirty tricks.

This is why the narrative shifted from Obama loudly insisting that his government had kept the election pure to RUSSIAN collusion.

At the same time, the Obama holdovers began their orchestrated campaign of #Resistance, designed to render the bureaucracy ungovernable.  Blind-sided by this, Trump hung Flynn out to dry and tried to get on with the business of staffing his administration, but everywhere he turned, he was thwarted.

From Hasty Defense to Deliberate Counterattack

The clumsy effort to force Trump to resign made little sense at the time, but in retrospect it has a certain logic to it.  If you know that you've blatantly violated federal privacy laws, and participated in a conspiracy to do so, there isn't much you won't do to cover up your crimes.

Being new to the hothouse politics of Washington, Trump tried to compartmentalize the RUSSIA drama.  However, he also knew that Comey was playing a double-game and being too smart by half.  At this point, no one can seriously argue that Comey didn't deserve his firing.  The only proven coverup is the one Comey created for Hillary.  The selection of Robert Mueller to head the investigation seemed rational at the time, though there were some clear warning signs.

And here we have to pause and ask:  What did the president know and when did he know it?

No, I don't mean to imply that he had done anything illegal, but rather what did he know about the FBI, Mueller and the corruption within that organization?

It is entirely possible (indeed likely) that non-corrupt elements were by this point mapping out the #Resistance cells within those organizations.  What if picking Mueller was a deliberate act, designed to flush out his accomplices?

I do not believe that Donald Trump is a God-Emperor or super genius, but he is a man of above-average intelligence and a quick study.  He is capable of grasping sophisticated concepts and navigating difficult political and strategic environments with considerable skill.

He also understands the importance of having experts to cover his blind spots.

Reince Priebus was a skilled politician, but he clearly had no idea what was going on in the background.  He likely assumed that this would be like any other administration, with its usual assortment of leaks, fake scandals and minor staff shuffles.  He simply was not prepared to wage a counter-insurgency.

Others within Trump's inner circle were, and it is no coincidence that his responses have grown sharper, more disciplined and more effective since retired Gen. Kelly has taken over the White House staff. 

To a casual observer, it is impossible to tell if inertia is the result of confusion or a deliberate act.  Trump's unwillingness to fire or even pressure Mueller was once interpreted as irresolution but it now looks like a careful strategy. 

(Note that I do not exclude the policy that it is a combination of both - it started as a confused response but was subsequently embraced as a strategic move.)

A Cunning Conspiracy Meets the Dunning-Kruger Effect

In all of this, the signature element has been that whatever conspiracy was hatched at the FBI, NSA or CIA (or from all three), it was spectacularly ineffective.

This is because one of the signature elements of the modern Democrat party is its colossal incompetence.  For some years there has been speculation that man of the Obama administration failures were planned.

Obamacare was designed to crater the American health system.

Obama's economic policy was designed to destroy growth.

The Iran and Russia overtures were designed to weaken the US and destroy its strategic position.

I think it is clear that none of these propositions are true. 

Obama wanted nothing more than to have Obamacare work and be a monument to his genius.  That it failed is a mystery to its supporters.

Similarly, the left sincerely believes Keynesian economics works.  Their projections were that the economy would surge just in time for Obama's re-election bid and the resulting prosperity would usher in a permanent Democrat majority.

In foreign policy, the progressives believe the US has no true enemies only adversaries we haven't won over through kindness and concessions.

Because they cannot ever admit failure on the part of their policies, they double down again and again in an effort to make their idea work.  When it doesn't, the reason is beyond their control, such as "the American people weren't smart enough to appreciate us," or "I underestimated the level of racism and sexism in the electorate."

Hillary's post-election book is one giant illustration of this.

The botched attempt to fix the election by the intelligence agencies falls squarely into this category.  Reading the leaked texts and emails of Mueller's staff proves that these people are legends in their own minds yet staggeringly stupid in performing their jobs.

Obviously, all the above is purely speculative, but it paints a picture consistent with everything we know.  I look forward to getting more of the story as the plot continues to come apart, but it may be for future generations to grasp the whole monumental idiocy of the thing.

 

 

Rage Against the Tax Cut

Once again, the laughable left-wing Democrats are in meltdown mode, bitterly hyperventilating over the tax reform package that has cleared Congress and awaits President Trump's signature.

Limousine liberal Nancy Pelosi, the same nitwit who said of Obamacare legislation, "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what's in it," used words like "Armageddon," "moral obscenity" and "permanent plutocracy." Some  of the more unhinged liberals are now saying "people are going to die" because of the tax bill. Paranoia will destroya, as the song says.

So the statist and pompous progressives are in high dudgeon? LOVE IT! That underscores how right it was to cut taxes and attempt to simplify the tax code thicket. Granted, this bill has many flaws, but the type of bill I and millions of other conservatives would prefer simply could not clear the political hurdles and become law. That's how far we've strayed from the Founders' vision. So (are you listening, Mark Levin & Michael Savage?) you've got to work with reality as it is, not how you would like it to be.

I really shouldn't spend much time debunking the tired Democrat meme of "tax cuts for the rich," but it's helpful once in a while to examine the tax collection paradigm to get an idea why wealthy people receive much larger tax cuts. According to the Tax Foundation, the top 1 percent of income earners pay 38 percent of the federal tax revenues. Expand that taxpayer group to the top 5 percent, and it's 58 percent.

So, if someone is making millions of dollars, and paying hundreds of thousands -- or even millions -- of dollars in taxes, that person will receive a tax cut that is far larger than the average worker's annual salary. Conversely, if a married couple pulls in $70k or $80k, perhaps their tax liability will be reduced by $1,000 or $1,500.

So in actual dollars, of course the wealthy get more back. A LOT more. But it's so easy to demagogue the issue, disregarding the tax burden, ignoring the progressive nature of the tax system, and defining tax relief by dollar amounts rather than percentages. Why don't leftists realize that harming the rich and attempting to confiscate large chunks of their income does nothing to help poor and middle class people. For one thing, the wealthy have tax shelters and can park their money offshore. But beyond that, even if they did pay confiscatory rates, much of the money would be squandered in the bloated, inefficient bureaucracy. Consultants, lawyers and P.R. flacks living off the fat of the Beltway would be raking it in, but your average Joe wouldn't be better off.

I am still waiting for the Democrats to propose something substantive and constructive, but negativism and bitter scorn are about all they've got. I looked at Twitter the other day, and immediately felt like I needed to take a shower. The intensity of rage and disgusting, profanity-laden rants coming from leftists is downright disturbing. I'd better just steer clear of the Twitter sewer during this holy season.

There is also a jealousy and contempt the leftists have for the Republicans' victory lap just before Christmas. Like the Democrats didn't do the same thing after they passed Obamacare in March 2010? Puh-LEASE!

The similarity is that both bills passed strictly on party lines, and in both cases, the opposition was bitterly, irretrievably opposed. Ah, but there's an enormous difference: President Obama and his fellow Democrats repeatedly lied through their teeth to pass Obamacare (e.g., "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor" and an average $2,500 savings per American family).

While the Republicans and their supporters may have exaggerated and stretched the truth in support of this bill (if you're looking for veracity in politics, you're nuts), they didn't commit the egregious deceit of the Obamacare Democrats, whose cynicism and conceit for their political opponents knows no bounds.

When it comes to the liberals' misery and rage, my schadenfreude cup runneth over. To those who love chipping away at the leviathan federal government and untangling the hideous tax code, raise a glass. As Kool & The Gang sang nearly four decades ago: "Celebrate good times, come on!"

Fiasco in Atlanta

Anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of emergency management and/or homeland security is familiar with the concept of continuity of operations (AKA continuity of government, or "COG" in bureaucratize).

Procedures and policies are drafted in advance to be implemented in the event of a major emergency or catastrophic event. Certain people have specific duties, priorities are set, the right equipment is put in place, and resources are allocated toward the most critical needs. The "three P's" of emergency management -- Plan, Practice, Prepare -- are followed to ensure readiness.

Apparently the folks at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport are clueless about such elementary practices that have been used for decades by large organizations and institutions.  On Sunday, an 11-hour power outage caused widespread confusion and paralyzed the world's largest airport, causing a ripple effect of canceled and delayed flights nationwide.

An underground electrical fire destroyed not only the main power lines, but the backup, or redundant, power lines designed to be activated in the event of a power outage. Incredible that the backups are adjacent, because a flood, fire or explosion that damages the principal lines would obviously damage the emergency lines, which is what happened. Perhaps the architects, engineers and Georgia Power Company can share in the blame, who knows. But back to emergency management...

Tweets, phone calls and comments made to the media by hundreds of passengers described chaos, confusion and anxiety. On some planes, the water supply ran out, and when toilets overflowed the airline crews had no choice but to dump raw sewage out onto the tarmac

One passenger told Fox 5 in Atlanta that his flight crew spent several hours trying to figure out how to attach their plane to a jet bridge. Finally, passengers stepped off the plane -- into darkness and disorganization.

"There was nobody there to say 'stop' or 'don't go there,'" the man said. He and his fellow passengers emptied into a pitch dark terminal without any direction. Using cell phone flashlights, they followed a mob toward baggage claim. Normally, trains would carry passengers such a long way, but the trains were not running. It was quite a while before the group saw the first security official, he said.

At the very least, metro Atlanta authorities and news media could have done a better job alerting the public to stay away, using text messages, emails, TV, radio, social media... Especially those who thought they would be flying out or picking up someone whose plane was just arriving. Far too many of those poor souls ended up showing up at the airport without having been warned. Failure and ineptitude were all around, and a coordinated response was nowhere to be found.

The After Action Report is another staple of emergency management. It is designed to analyze how well an institution, organization or government responded to a major incident, where it fell short, and what lessons were learned. The airport authority, and perhaps emergency responders such as the Atlanta Fire Department and Fulton County Sheriff's Department, will be involved in putting that together. Let's hope they don't go lightly on those who dropped the ball. I can't help but suspect that, Atlanta being a typical big city run by left-wingers and rife with hacks appointed for their political connections, there was some downright incompetence at play here.

TAX BILL COMETH -- Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the tax reform/tax cut bill, but must hold another vote on it because the earlier version violated some arcane budget rules. The Senate will debate the bill tonight, and is expected to vote in the wee hours of the morning. The pathetic Democrats are repeating their tired, old B.S. about "tax cuts for the rich," and the news media is gleefully reporting on polls showing a strong majority of Americans oppose this legislation. Fortunately, the tens of millions of Americans who don't fall for Marxist income redistribution and Alinsky-like propaganda realize that the polls are a joke. Even if pollsters did not over-sample Democrat respondents, or call people during the day when conservatives tend to be at work and not answering their phone, this fact remains: If the media piles on against Trump 24/7, and 90 percent of the coverage is negative, OF COURSE you're going to get a significant number of ignorant and apathetic people parroting that they're opposed to the tax bill. But as Trump's victory over Hillary clearly illustrated, 0pinion polls are simply liberal window dressing for substance-free, hyper-partisan advocacy journalism.

 

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Is it a Trump boom or a long-delayed recovery?

I was amazed to see that the New York Fed is now estimating that final quarter of 2017 may see GDP growth reach 4 percent – this after two previous quarters that cleared 3 percent for the first time in eight years.

Unemployment is down, food assistance is falling, wages are rising, housing starts are surging, consumer confidence is soaring and the stock market is roaring.

All of this despite the "experts" assuring us that Trump’s election would result in a massive economic depression.  What’s going on?

It is my belief that the Trump administration’s swift moves to cut crippling regulation and its pro-market orientation have persuaded capital that was previously sitting on the sidelines to re-enter the game.  To put it in Keynesian terms, the “animal spirits” are stirring at last.

The contrast with the Obama era could not be more telling.  For eight years the government seemed obsessed with stamping out individual initiative, imposing layer after layer of crippling regulation on everything from forcing doctors to do additional paperwork to placing mud puddles under federal management.

Democrat partisans may point to the fact that US GDP grew from $14.5 trillion in 2009 to $18.5 trillion in 2016, but during those same years we added $10 trillion to the federal debt.

To put it another way, for every dollar the government borrowed, the economy grew by fifty cents. 

Talk about a negative rate of return!

It’s not my purpose to argue that government spending actually crowds out the efficient use of resources (though it does), but rather to point out that we are only now exiting the Great Recession of 2009.

That’s the only way the current surge in growth can be explained.  For all the positive press, the “Obama recovery” didn’t actually increase prosperity.  Sure, the stock market rose, but that was because the Federal Reserve was pumping it up.  Unemployment fell, but only because the labor force contracted sharply.  Wages remained flat, business start-ups fell and – tellingly – food assistance reached record levels.

These are not the signs of a growing economy – they are the signs of a managed decline.

The contrast now could not be clearer.  The economy is clearly growing at a rapid pace - and the inbound tax cuts can only accelerate this process.  Even in recession-hammered Michigan, I'm seeing the fabled "green shoots" starting to sprout up.

Long-dormant properties are once again occupied.  Subdivisions that were abandoned during the housing crash are seeing renewed construction.  Help wanted ads are everywhere.  There is more bustle than I've seen in a long time.

According to the economists, we're in the seventh year of an expansion and therefore due for a correction, but out in the real world, this feels like we're just getting started.  Here's hoping.

With counterintellince types like these, no wonder Russia is eating our lunch

There's plenty to be worried about in the goat rope that is the RUSSIA investigation, but one item that hasn't drawn much attention is the almost criminal level of incompetence shown by the investigators.

Consider the case of love-struck Trump hater and nominal federal agent Peter Strzok.  Before being added to Muller's Insane Clown Posse, he was a high-ranking counterintelligence official.  That is to say, his job was to stop foreign spies from gaining access to our national security secrets.

A key part of this is being aware of and using only the safest communications protocols as well as limiting exposure to blackmail.

So what does this paragon of security do? 

Carries on an affair with a co-worker and then texts about it constantly over an unsecured government cell phone.

Seriously, with idiots like this in charge of national security, who needs RUSSIA?  All the Rooskis have to do is do FOIA requests for this twit's text records.

Of course, this is the same guy who figured that it was perfectly okay for the Secretary of State to blatantly violate security protocols and keep a home-brewed email server chock full of classified data in some minion's bathroom.

I take it as a given at this point that all of Strzok's texts as well as all of Hillary's emails are under review in Moscow.   I also assume that Team Clinton is perfectly fine with this because they let it happen in the first place.

What they are not fine with is having the extent of this damage known to the American people.

Indeed, I was fascinated to see noted NeverTrump asshole and fantasy strategist Max Boot whining that the release of all these incriminated texts violated Strzok's privacy.

On the poor dear!  I guess Mr. Counterintelligence never read the part about his i-phone being for official duty only and (like all government data systems) there being no expectation of privacy.

I've smacked Boot around before, but this is a milestone of stupid, even for him.  I hear he's written some decent books but after this, I can't believe he knows how to pour piss out of a boot with the instructions printed on the heel.

RUSSIA basically wrote the book on compromising intelligence officer and Strzok couldn't have been more vulnerable if he'd been walking through DC handcuffed and blindfolded with a "kick me" sign taped to his back.

In a functional government, he'd already be fired and under intense interrogation to determine just how bad the security breach has been.  Alas, that's not what we have today.