Real Tax Reform

The GOP crows its tax reform plan of $1.5 trillion over a decade.  Sound large?  Not really.  Over the same period of time the federal government will spend some $53 trillion.  Or, to put this in perspective, the tax plan is less than 3% of total spending.  Also note, the government will run up another $10 trillion of debt on top of the $20 trillion of debt that already exists.

Real tax reform needs to come from real spending reform.  A man who has been a CFO of two major corporations remarked that any CFO worth his salt can find ways to cut spending 5% before the morning’s coffee - and that is in a healthy corporation.  That percentage jumps to 20% without having to make any hard decisions when the attention is turned an inefficient, ineffective, and wasteful government.

Now 20% on $53 trillion is nearly $11 trillion . . . or close to 10 times the number proposed by the GOP.  Now that would be real tax reform that would put real money in people’s pockets, and towards the repayment of the debt.

The call to action here is to contact your representatives to tell them $1.5 trillion is a good down payment, and then to proceed to real tax reform!

North Korea Prospects – Diplomacy with Strength

At the end of October, Abraham Sofaer, Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, gave a lucid presentation about the North Korean threat.  The good news is the war of words between Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump is just that – words.  Sofaer recounted a history of words between the countries for the past 50 years.  If actual war was in the wind, he continued, so would be its characteristics of recalling American personnel overseas and the building of armed forces, which has not yet happened.

Sofaer then went on to say that the only “acceptable” resolution is diplomacy, which can only be brought about by a combination of extreme economic sanctions, deals with North Korea and China, and a large buildup of nuclear and anti-nuclear technology surrounding North Korea.  This three prong approach constrains North Korea into a mindset for meaningful talks.

The bad news is that the level of cost, diplomacy, deals, and secrecy may be beyond our government.  The weak link in this chain is secrecy, as the bitter hatred of Trump from within, and the media from without could frustrate the sensitive and secret talks that must take place if a sound agreement that protects the peace is to be reached.

Sofaer noted that secret talks have frustrated all modern presidents but it can be done noting a case-in-point with Henry Kissinger.

There is a path forward with North Korea that is defined and practical, but it will be challenging.

For the Love of the Game

We normally do not like to mix politics with football, but it seems to be the fashion these days. Many discuss the disrespect of the American flag or civil rights statement, depending on your view of the statement of players taking a knee during the National Anthem.  However, I think most fans would agree that it is not so much the political statement itself that caused all sorts of emotions, it’s the fact that the love of the game and the experience of the sport has been impeded on.

Football games are truly an American experience. We make games into an event and follow and support our teams as a form of religion. We eat and drink our fill, enter the stadiums or turn on the channel to watch the opening ceremonies. We watch our team run out onto the field and the singing of the National Anthem. This is America and we take pride and enjoyment out of that unique experience.

The players, as all of us, have many forums to express their political views. But when players make the opening ceremony of this American experience into a political forum, they deface the beauty for which many come to watch.  They intrude on our tranquility and hurt us with their disrespect.

Let the player’s voices be heard if they so choose, and shall no action be taken against them personally for political expression.  But let too, free men and free markets exercise free will.  For some of us, the game is no longer worth watching.

Divided? Not!

The media has reveled in proclaiming and stoking the fires of a divided America, where racists and the racial divide has never been wider.  Really?  Take a look at what really happened when hurricane Harvey hit Texas.  While CNN and MSNBC found political foils, the rest of the country, beyond the costal elites, did what Americans do – helped their neighbors.

Let me share a story.  My dad and I had left California to drive to Boston on Monday, August 28th.  Our trip took us through Missouri where we would stop at a Cracker Barrel restaurant just off the freeway for breakfast.  There, our waitress, Marilyn, came over to take our order.  It was early in the morning and Marilyn, with her dark grey hair and weathered skin, looked tired as she approached us.  We would greet her with our warm smiles and, with cheer in our voices, a hearty good morning and asked her how she was.

Marilyn’s demeanor immediately changed to a grin and a glow of thanks for bringing sunshine in what is routine.  She asked us if we were local.  We said that we were traveling through when she interrupted to ask if we were heading to Texas. Marilyn said that most folk that were stopping at the restaurant that were traveling through were heading to Texas to help the people affected by the hurricane.  She continued that she and her daughter were gathering all the clothes and food they could find to send to Texas.  We spoke a bit more, then Marilyn hurried off to get us coffee.

Marilyn and all the people “traveling through” are America.  No talk of any divide, just compassion.  No care who is in trouble, just ready to help.  Marilyn struggles to make a living yet will, literally, give you the shirt off her back.

It appears we’re all Americans!

Tell Them What to Think

It was last Tuesday on MSNBC political commentary show, Hardball, left leaning host, Chris Matthews, opined that leaders should tell people what to think.

Politics on the Left (and Right is not without guilt) has this aversion to individual thought because it is not conducive for reelection.  This says it all about liberal dialogue, there is none.  Take what we tell you or face the consequence.  Leaders like Kim Jung Un tell their people what to think.  In America our politicians are not our leaders because we are self-governing.  In America political thought is developed not dictated.

We cannot let dialogue be ordered to conformity.  The Left is increasingly frustrated that too many American’s are not abiding by “their” ways.  It is not a matter for debate, it is a matter of obedience.  They believe they are uniquely qualified to judge what the moral right is and have the intellectual honesty to know what is best.  Therefore, without further discussion, it is time for the rest of us to listen, learn, and fall in line….OR become vigilant, think independently, have reasoned debate, and actively engage in self-governance.

Be Vigilant. Be Free.

Demanding Better Discourse

We are a country obsessed with drama and can't seem to stand for a slow news day. If it is not what President Donald Trump has said, it is what he didn’t say. If it is not what the current administration did, it is what they didn’t do. And the same patterns run through each political party, each decision made, each action taken.

Politics is about power.  For one side to “win” the other must “lose”.  It is all about scoring political points as tallied by the media.  Speaker Paul Ryan said his first job is the reelection of his members and the control of the House.  That is his first job?  Not good public policy within good constitutional order?

We demand that our political bodies come together to agree on some compromise to better the country, yet we stand outside the walls of Congress and partake in the same argumentative manner which is then inflated and furthered by the overly dramatic and terribly partisan media coverage.

How can we demand better from our government if we are acting no better ourselves? We should strive to embody the character and manner that we ask for in our government representatives.  And they should strive to do better for the public good.

Republicans with One Foot in the Grave

For the past eight years Republicans have howled that if they only could control the House, Senate, and Executive branches, they could repeal Obamacare and Dodd-Frank, overhaul the tax code, reduce the regulatory state, restore order to the Middle East, confront China and North Korea, and get the budget deficits under control.  Well that “dog caught the car” and for the first six months Republican are far afield from their promises.

Differences of policy thought within the party are healthy but, in the end, policy has to be enacted and promises kept.  Obamacare repeal/replace has been a disaster, Dodd-Frank some tooling at the edges, regulatory reform some, tax reform not started, Middle East and China good start then stalled, North Korea no start, and budget control a non-starter.

The Republican Party has no appearance of a single party, rather it seems to be filled with representatives that are (now called) moderates who seem to embrace some Democrat policies and conservatives who refuse to make incremental gains in policy.

With the second failure to repeal and replace Obamacare and incessant inability to agree on legislation, the Republican base will be demotivated to turn-out in 2018, regardless of the state of the economy.  However, the Democrat voting base is highly motivated.  What will be left is one, if not both, houses of Congress in the hands of the Democrats and a Republican President with no allies in either.  If the second half of this year proves no better legislatively for Republicans than the first half, Republicans will have found themselves with one foot in the political grave come 2018 election time.