1) Hey, Republicans – the Villain Is Biden – Not McCarthy
A handful of “conservative” House Republicans lost their minds yesterday.
The enemy of fiscal sanity isn’t Kevin McCarthy – and never was. It’s Biden (and Chucky Schumer and Nancy Pelosi). They’re the partners in crime who increased spending and debt by $6 TRILLION. They’re the ones who have implemented Modern Monetary Theory. They’re the ones who want the deficit to rise by another $10 trillion over the next decade. They’re the ones who want another $2 trillion in spending if they win in 2024.
We know that many of our readers have varying opinions of McCarthy’s nine-month reign as Speaker. We agreed with him on some issues and disagreed on others.
But the drama queens in the House have foolishly muddied the picture.
If the question is: How do we end the financially ruinous spending spree and swerve away from the pit of despair of $50 trillion in debt?
The answer is: Dump Biden (and Schumer) – not McCarthy.
2) Highest Ever Percentage of Voters Prefer GOP on the Economy
Yesterday's other big news was this survey result from GALLUP, with a question they have been asking since 1951 with Republicans never scoring higher than right now:
"Looking ahead for the next few years, which political party do you think will do a better job of keeping the country prosperous?"
Can a party with a 14-point lead on this question lose elections anyway? It remains to be seen, but if anyone can, it’s the GOP. (See Item 1).
3) Even Members of Congress Are Getting Mugged on the Streets of DC
Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat, was carjacked at gunpoint on Monday night outside a Washington apartment building that houses dozens of fellow House members, and is guarded by the Capitol Hill police.
Washington D.C.’s crime problem is out of control with 750 carjackings so far this year.
Earlier this year, Rep. Angie Craig, a Minnesota Democrat, was mugged in her apartment building not far from the Cuellar carjacking. The assailant punched Craig and grabbed her neck, but let go after she threw hot coffee on him.
Later that day, Craig and Cueller were two of the 31 House Democrats who voted with all House Republicans for a bill to ban a DC Council act that would have reduced punishments for violent crimes, including carjackings. Remarkably, 173 Democrats voted no.
Peter Doocy of Fox News asked White House press secretary Karine-Jean Pierre on Tuesday: “So if President Biden's policies are helping bring crime down, would he be comfortable with somebody borrowing his Corvette, and parking it on the street, overnight, in Southeast D.C.?"
Her reply? "I'm not going to get into hypotheticals.”
The DC crime wave isn’t hypothetical. It’s an epidemic.
The debate of the year may be the one coming up next month between the two governors: Florida’s Ron DeSantis and California’s Gavin Newsom.
This is a red state-blue state showdown. So, to help the DeSantis team get ready for this rumble in the jungle, we will over the course of the next few weeks provide some compare and contrasts.
Start with how Americans are voting with their feet. In just the last six years, California has lost a net one million residents and Florida has gained more than one million movers from other states. If we go back to 2010, the outmigration from California and the in-migration to Florida is twice as high.
California was once America’s jewel. Now it is a mecca for homelessness, crime, drug abuse, unemployment, lousy schools, poverty, and high taxes.
Gavin Newsom has taken to calling California “the freedom state.” Freedom from what?
5) Speaking of Dysfunctional Blue States: AOC Wants to Double the Highest Income Tax Rate in New York
There’s been an ongoing race over the past two decades between California and New York to see which state can tax the rich the most. Right now, California with a top income tax rate of 14% has a slight lead over New York, at 13.3% (which counts the NY City income tax surcharge).
But now, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed a Democratic Socialists of America plan to almost double the state’s income tax rate to as high as 24%, according to the New York Post. This is on top of the federal rate of 37%. The new tax rates would start to climb for those New Yorkers with incomes above $250,000, which for residents of Manhattan where the cost of living is as high as the Empire State Building, is practically the average income.
The DSA's soak-the-rich proposal comes as a new study finds the Empire State has suffered an exodus of 27,101 millennials aged 26 to 45 earning more than $200,000 a year than any other state. By contrast, Florida has had a 5.6 percent increase in wealthy millennials.
Something tells us Florida, Tennessee, and Texas – which have no state income tax – are about to get a lot more crowded.
