Elsewhere in the News...

George Washington and his family attended the Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia. In the section where his family sat is a plaque honoring Washington. The plaque has to come down because "the plaques in our sanctuary make some in our presence feel unsafe or unwelcome." There it is. As predicted, the beginning of the end of George Washington as the Father of our country. From statues to schools being renamed to dead white men who owned slaves. I would never justify slavery. But, it will only be a matter of time until our capital city is renamed. As in 1984, as in the former USSR, history must be rewritten as the times require.

Are you a techie? If you are, but you were born white and male and are straight, then you need not apply for 8 open tech jobs at the DNC. Fox is reporting that the DNC's Data Service Manager sent an email explaining "I personally would prefer that you not forward (the list of job openings) to cisgender straight white males, as they are already in the majority." Substitute the phrase "cisgender straight white males" for any other identifiable group (women, blacks, Hispanics, gays, etc.) and we immediately see the illegality of the discrimination being proposed. The DNC leadership disavowed authorizing that memo; but it certainly gives some insight into the thinking of some at the DNC.

A poll was recently done by YouGov with a group called "Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation." As reported by Fox, the poll questioned millennials about their societal preferences. Shockingly, only 42% prefer living in a capitalist country. 45% would prefer living in a socialist country, with 7% preferring to live in a communist country. 43% of millennials agree that speech should be restricted to assure it is not offensive. (Again, shockingly, that percentage closely tracks with other age groups.) The conclusion is I draw is that freedom is not a particularly high value for millennials. They have been taught that equality is more important, that feelings are more important. They do not seem to get the fact that speech that offends no one does not need First Amendment protection. They do not get that American capitalism has created more wealth for more people than any other country in human history.

Following the recent terror attack in lower Manhattan, President Trump Tweeted (surprise!) "I have just ordered Homeland Security to step up our already Extreme Vetting Program. Being politically correct is fine, but not for this." He also Tweeted: "In NYC, looks like another attack by a very sick and deranged person." It did not take long for Trump to blame Chuck Schumer for sponsoring the legislation enabling people like this terrorist to come to the US (the diversity visa lottery program). Trump has also Tweeted that the perpetrator should get the death penalty. Readers may recall my criticisms of Obama for getting involved in local criminal matters, which a President should not do. While the Manhattan terrorist will be charged with federal crimes (and perhaps subsequently with state crimes), the President should still stay out of it.

As for the accusation by the Left that Trump tried to immediately politicize the attack (he did go after Schumer) when he should have tried to unite people - yes and no. Of course, I prefer to see and hear a unifying message at a time like this. But I said "no" also because let's get real. Democrats have consistently done the same thing, and worse. After the horrific Las Vegas massacre, the Dems wasted no time in politicizing the event with immediate proposals for gun control. Even worse, the Leftist Dems criticized those who expressed sympathy for the victims - if those same people also supported the Second Amendment right to gun ownership.

The Repubs have a tax plan. They want to cut the rate on corporate taxes from 35% to 20%, which would bring us more in line with other developed countries. The idea is to encourage the use of that saved money for job creation. They also propose increasing the estate tax exemption from estates worth $5 million to those worth $10 million, and eventually phasing it out after six years. I am in favor. The estate tax always seemed like double taxation to me. Additionally, surviving family members should not have to sell the family business just to be able to come up with enough money to pay the tax when the family member/owner dies. The plan also proposes to reduce the number of income tax brackets from seven to four: 12%, 25%, 35% and 39.6%. They should have reduced it to three, eliminating the too high 39.6% bracket.

The standard deduction for individuals would increase from $6350 to $12,000, with the deduction for married couples filing jointly increasing from $12,700 to $24,000. The biggest controversies center around the elimination and/or reduction of deductions. Currently, interest on mortgage payments are deductible for loans up to $1 million. That will be reduced to $500,000 under the proposed law. That will definitely affect people in California and other states which have high prices for residential properties. Many homes in California are priced between $500,000 and $1 million. Without getting the full benefit of deducting all the interest payments on those higher loans, people will think twice about buying, ultimately depressing prices. Combine that with the proposed $10,000 limit on deductions for state and local property taxes, and it is hard to see how prices will not be affected.

I am all in favor of simplifying the tax code. Better yet, I am in favor of eliminating the IRS. Might this be a step in the direction of a flat tax? What if we had a flat tax of 10% with no deductions at all? We all know what would happen. In time that flat tax would go up to 15%, 20%, 25% and higher - with no deductions left. The 1913 rate was 1% for incomes over $3000 and 6% for incomes over $500,000. Look where we are today. What if we eliminated the federal income tax altogether and replaced it with a value added tax? The wealthy would pay more because they spend more. No more abusive IRS targeting people for their political beliefs. And here's an idea that many of us would like to see a Republican Congress actually supporting - lower spending so that we can lower taxes even more. Personally, I do not view a $4 trillion budget passed by Republicans as being particularly conservative.