1) Why Isn't the Biden Admin Protecting American Companies from Europe's Predatory Lawsuits?
American shareholders will lose tens of billions of dollars in investment income from holdings in Silicon Valley companies like Google and Apple if several EU sham lawsuits prevail.
These are generally suits alleging that America's dominant tech companies are acting like monopolists. Or to borrow a term, they are "price gouging."
The EU's courts outrageously ruled this week that Apple shareholders owe Europe $13.5 billion in back taxes because the company took advantage of Ireland's low 12.5% tax rate. The EU "competition chief" declared that this sham court decision "is a big win for European citizens and tax justice."
Meanwhile, Google shareholders are now forced to pay the EU $2.4 billion, because its search engine has become dominant in the European market. The European search engines are so inferior that nobody wants to use them. So sue American companies.
Let's be clear here: the EU has been crushed by American tech dominance. No company in socialist Europe can compete with Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta, and so on. See the chart below. Since they can't compete, they invent sore-loser lawsuits.
The bigger villain here is the Biden administration. Instead of defending American shareholders from the EU predators, the Biden regulators encourage and give legitimacy to the foreign courts.
How can the U.S. government complain against specious antitrust attacks (tech prices are falling dramatically) against Google and Apple when our own regulators at the FTC and the Justice Department are bringing copycat lawsuits against our tech giants in US courts?
The capricious fine against Google is a result of an American company shopping around to find the lowest tax climate (Ireland) for doing business. This is illegal?
The Biden administration wants it to be. Their moronic global minimum tax is a ploy to enable governments to extract as much money as possible from corporate America. They want to raise the total federal and state corporate income tax to 33% – even higher than the tax in the EU.
It's an unpatriotic strategy that puts America last.
We challenge you to find a downward inflection point on this chart. If you look closely, there are two upward deflections from the trend – right after Obamacare passed and again when it was expanded by Biden in the last few years:
We are putting the finishing touches on a new UP paper that will go through the greatest hits of Obamacare lies and broken promises, and this one rates near the top.
This history is critical not just because of its implications for health care policy, but because liberals continue to suggest hefty demand-size subsidies are the solution to affordability for housing, food, education, etc. It doesn't work.
The cost of government employees is now 39.7% higher than their private sector counterparts
Salaries are 22.3% higher and benefits are a whopping 80.8% higher – and many of them still haven't set foot in an office since before the lockdowns.
How can we get in on one of these government gigs?
Oh, and remember: as of April, fewer than one in ten of this protected class (it's nearly impossible to fire a government employee) is working 40 hours a week in the office.
4) The Fed Proposes Ratcheting Down Debit Card Price Controls
We noticed an ad run during the debate opposing the Federal Reserve's plan to impose even more stringent price controls on the fees banks charge merchants for processing debit card transactions. These price controls were the brainchild of Senator Richard Durbin and were supposed to HELP consumers.
We don't always agree with the banks, but they have this one right.
As with so many federal regulations, Reg II (pronounced "eye-eye") didn't benefit consumers. Instead, it was responsible for millions of Americans losing free checking accounts and debit rewards programs, and as many as a million people going from banked to unbanked. Apparently, Durbin prefers that these lower-income folks go to the local "Checks Cashed" storefront.
Notably, smaller community banks have been hit the hardest by the existing rule, making it more difficult for them to serve consumers and grow local economies. These institutions and their customers would be hurt the most by the Fed's plan to tighten debit price controls.
As we noted yesterday, the Fed largely reversed course on capital requirements – they should do the same on debit card price controls. In an ideal world, the next Congress and president would get rid of them altogether.
5) Laugh or Cry: Say Goodbye to Your Favorite Cabernet Thanks to Climate Change
Here's the headline from the climate-crazies at NPR:
In California's Napa Valley, cabernet sauvignon is king.
The bold red wine has made the region world famous, with some bottles retailing at hundreds of dollars. But increasingly severe heat waves are taking a toll on the grape variety, especially in late summer during ripening. As temperatures keep rising, the wine industry is slowly confronting a future where Napa may not be the prime cabernet region it once was.
Say what you will about NPR, but they certainly know what their audience cares about!
