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.
Saturday, November 4, 2017
Russian Collusion?
The Story. The Hillary Clinton campaign/the DNC (which we just learned from Donna Brazile were one and the same) sought opposition research on Donald Trump. Clinton/DNC hired the law firm Perkins Coie, which in turn hired opposition research firm Fusion GPS, who then hired former British spy Christopher Steele. The so-called anti-Trump "dossier" put together by Steele for Fusion GPS was filled with lies; or, as James Comey later referred to it, it was "salacious and unverified." Nine million dollars was paid by Clinton/DNC for this "dossier."
Current DNC Chair, Tom Perez, claims no knowledge of this payment to Perkins Coie, which paid for the "dossier." Former DNC Chair, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, also claims no knowledge. No law firm is spending nine million dollars for a client unless that client fronted the money, or authorized the expenditure in advance. Now the question is: if Clinton and the DNC had this "dossier," is it not likely that they shared the information with the top people in the Obama Administration? Which then leads to the question of why Samantha Power and Susan Rice improperly sought the unmasking of Americans in captured conversations with foreign nationals. Would it surprise anyone that Obama was looking for some evidence of Trump misconduct, based on the lies in the "dossier," in order to stop the man who promised to undo much of Obama's legacy?
As Kimberly Strassel states in her 10/27/17 piece in the Wall Street Journal: "...someone at the DNC and at the Clinton campaign will need to explain how they somehow both forgot to list Fusion as a vendor in their campaign-finance filings," noting that a "willful evasion" has possible criminal consequences. In light of Donna Brazile's revelation that the Clinton campaign secretly took control of the DNC during the primaries, possibly illegally undermining the Bernie Sanders campaign, is anyone still willing to give Clinton the benefit of the doubt on any of this?
Meanwhile, Special Counsel Robert Mueller announced indictments of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business partner Richard Gates. The indictment seems to deal with Manafort's actions between 2008 and 2014. The charges include failing to register as an agent for a foreign government (Ukraine), and then sending his earnings to offshore accounts and "forgetting" to declare that income to the IRS. Mueller also announced a guilty plea earlier in the year by George Papadopoulos for lying to the FBI; a plea kept quiet by Mueller presumably to send Papadopoulos undercover in an effort to get dirt on people in the Trump Administration.
The Takeaway. Was there collusion between Clinton, the DNC, the Obama White House and James Comey to undermine the Trump campaign and subsequent Trump Administration through the use of this paid for "dossier" filled with lies? Think about it. Last summer James Comey gave a press conference laying out the criminal case against Hillary Clinton regarding her use of a private email server and destruction of 33,000 emails. He then shocked everyone by concluding that Clinton did not have criminal "intent" even though the criminal statute in question regarding handling of classified information only required "gross negligence." Well, Mr. Comey asserted that Ms. Clinton was "extremely careless." Can anyone tell me the difference between "gross negligence" and "extreme carelessness?" Furthermore, we now know that Comey made his statement exonerating Clinton before the FBI even interviewed her.
Did Comey give Trump the same benefit of the doubt? Hardly. He admitted to leaking private communications with Trump to a friend who in turn leaked the information to the New York Times - all in the hope that the result would be the appointment of a special counsel. How do we know that was Comey's intent? Because he admitted it. Combine that with all the false allegations in the Trump "dossier," which the FBI may have relied on for their own investigation, and then combine that with the likely illegal unmasking of American's names by White House officials - that sure sounds like collusion to me.
Here are some questions. Who will investigate the Clinton/DNC collusion which undermined the Sanders campaign? After all, if Clinton was able to secretly get money from the DNC, were those transfers legal? Did she report them? Sadly, AG Jeff Sessions has shown little interest in any of this. Will the FBI investigate? The FEC? Or, as has happened many times before, do the Clintons get another pass? I am amused when my friends on the Left tell me that Clinton is unimportant because she lost. She is old news. Is that the new legal standard - lose an election and you escape legal scrutiny? Old news? Obama complained about Bush for for eight years; but I am told I should not be bringing up Clinton.
Here are some more questions. We all thought Mueller's job was to look into illegal collusion with Russia. So why is a special counsel the one issuing indictments against Paul Manafort on matters unrelated to the Trump campaign? The US has 93 United States Attorneys whose jobs are to prosecute those accused of federal crimes. Why, then, is Mueller the one prosecuting Manafort for what looks like tax evasion, instead of one of the US Attorneys? They are the ones who ordinarily prosecute such crimes. Doesn't this have the appearance of nothing other than a "fishing expedition" which Mueller will continue until such time as he believes he has a prosecutable case against Trump? Not because he necessarily wants to prosecute Trump, although he may. But more likely to use an indictment in order to accomplish the Democrats' goal from the day Trump was inaugurated - impeachment.
Caroline Glick generally comments on the Middle East. But here is her take on what is happening in the US (and to a certain extent to P.M. Netanyahu in Israel): "Unable to win elections, they (the Left) exploit their control over the bureaucracy and media to overturn election results. There can be no greater threat to the health of a liberal democracy than that." Doesn't that explain why Democratic politicians and the mainstream media have been talking up impeachment since Trump's first day in office? And isn't that what Mueller's witch hunt is all about? Not only have the Democrats been unable to accept the election results, it is also clear that the "swamp" will fight back.
Current DNC Chair, Tom Perez, claims no knowledge of this payment to Perkins Coie, which paid for the "dossier." Former DNC Chair, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, also claims no knowledge. No law firm is spending nine million dollars for a client unless that client fronted the money, or authorized the expenditure in advance. Now the question is: if Clinton and the DNC had this "dossier," is it not likely that they shared the information with the top people in the Obama Administration? Which then leads to the question of why Samantha Power and Susan Rice improperly sought the unmasking of Americans in captured conversations with foreign nationals. Would it surprise anyone that Obama was looking for some evidence of Trump misconduct, based on the lies in the "dossier," in order to stop the man who promised to undo much of Obama's legacy?
As Kimberly Strassel states in her 10/27/17 piece in the Wall Street Journal: "...someone at the DNC and at the Clinton campaign will need to explain how they somehow both forgot to list Fusion as a vendor in their campaign-finance filings," noting that a "willful evasion" has possible criminal consequences. In light of Donna Brazile's revelation that the Clinton campaign secretly took control of the DNC during the primaries, possibly illegally undermining the Bernie Sanders campaign, is anyone still willing to give Clinton the benefit of the doubt on any of this?
Meanwhile, Special Counsel Robert Mueller announced indictments of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business partner Richard Gates. The indictment seems to deal with Manafort's actions between 2008 and 2014. The charges include failing to register as an agent for a foreign government (Ukraine), and then sending his earnings to offshore accounts and "forgetting" to declare that income to the IRS. Mueller also announced a guilty plea earlier in the year by George Papadopoulos for lying to the FBI; a plea kept quiet by Mueller presumably to send Papadopoulos undercover in an effort to get dirt on people in the Trump Administration.
The Takeaway. Was there collusion between Clinton, the DNC, the Obama White House and James Comey to undermine the Trump campaign and subsequent Trump Administration through the use of this paid for "dossier" filled with lies? Think about it. Last summer James Comey gave a press conference laying out the criminal case against Hillary Clinton regarding her use of a private email server and destruction of 33,000 emails. He then shocked everyone by concluding that Clinton did not have criminal "intent" even though the criminal statute in question regarding handling of classified information only required "gross negligence." Well, Mr. Comey asserted that Ms. Clinton was "extremely careless." Can anyone tell me the difference between "gross negligence" and "extreme carelessness?" Furthermore, we now know that Comey made his statement exonerating Clinton before the FBI even interviewed her.
Did Comey give Trump the same benefit of the doubt? Hardly. He admitted to leaking private communications with Trump to a friend who in turn leaked the information to the New York Times - all in the hope that the result would be the appointment of a special counsel. How do we know that was Comey's intent? Because he admitted it. Combine that with all the false allegations in the Trump "dossier," which the FBI may have relied on for their own investigation, and then combine that with the likely illegal unmasking of American's names by White House officials - that sure sounds like collusion to me.
Here are some questions. Who will investigate the Clinton/DNC collusion which undermined the Sanders campaign? After all, if Clinton was able to secretly get money from the DNC, were those transfers legal? Did she report them? Sadly, AG Jeff Sessions has shown little interest in any of this. Will the FBI investigate? The FEC? Or, as has happened many times before, do the Clintons get another pass? I am amused when my friends on the Left tell me that Clinton is unimportant because she lost. She is old news. Is that the new legal standard - lose an election and you escape legal scrutiny? Old news? Obama complained about Bush for for eight years; but I am told I should not be bringing up Clinton.
Here are some more questions. We all thought Mueller's job was to look into illegal collusion with Russia. So why is a special counsel the one issuing indictments against Paul Manafort on matters unrelated to the Trump campaign? The US has 93 United States Attorneys whose jobs are to prosecute those accused of federal crimes. Why, then, is Mueller the one prosecuting Manafort for what looks like tax evasion, instead of one of the US Attorneys? They are the ones who ordinarily prosecute such crimes. Doesn't this have the appearance of nothing other than a "fishing expedition" which Mueller will continue until such time as he believes he has a prosecutable case against Trump? Not because he necessarily wants to prosecute Trump, although he may. But more likely to use an indictment in order to accomplish the Democrats' goal from the day Trump was inaugurated - impeachment.
Caroline Glick generally comments on the Middle East. But here is her take on what is happening in the US (and to a certain extent to P.M. Netanyahu in Israel): "Unable to win elections, they (the Left) exploit their control over the bureaucracy and media to overturn election results. There can be no greater threat to the health of a liberal democracy than that." Doesn't that explain why Democratic politicians and the mainstream media have been talking up impeachment since Trump's first day in office? And isn't that what Mueller's witch hunt is all about? Not only have the Democrats been unable to accept the election results, it is also clear that the "swamp" will fight back.
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