May 18, 2020
Permission to republish original opeds and cartoons granted.
Trump soars in approval as America begins reopening, challenges China
President Donald Trump continues to see his
highest approval ratings of his first term in office, hitting 49 percent in the
most recent Gallup survey (48 percent disapprove) and 51 percent in the Hill/HarrisX
poll (49 percent disapprove) as the Trump administration continues its response
to the China-originated COVID-19 pandemic and states begin reopening. President
Trump has demanded China release any and all information about the true origin
of the virus out of Wuhan even while Beijing has sought to sow narratives that
first it was planted by American military or later that it somehow came from
Europe. Even though the virus began in early December, China would not confirm
human to human transmission until Jan. 20 and by Jan. 24 had Wuhan on lockdown.
Besides the response to the massive disruptions caused by the pandemic both
from a public health and economic perspective, Trump’s demands for
accountability could be a critical factor shaping public sentiment about the
virus and who to blame, with 48 percent who now have a negative view of China
on account of the virus, according to Hill/HarrisX.All told, 62 percent of
Republicans have a more negative view of communist China, 36 percent of
Democrats and 49 percent of independents. Above the age of 65, views toward
China have soured to 57 percent, negative, from 50-64, to 55 percent, and
35-49, to 45 percent.
Rick Manning on Hannity: Time to ReopenAmericaNow.org!
Americans for Limited Government President Rick
Manning joined Sean Hannity on his radio program to talk about the urgent need
for states to reopen America now.
Video: Delaware Salesman Says Business Now Coming Back, Kinda Wishes He Were In Texas!
A Wilmington, DE market cell and electronics
salesman says he has seen an improvement in business of late. But he wants to
get back to where he was prior to COVID-19. He believes it would be great to be
in the Lone Star State.
Wall Street Journal: Should Florida Bail Out New York?
“Democrats want a $915 billion budget bailout
for states and cities, and the leading lobbyist is New York Governor Andrew
Cuomo. His main public antagonist on the subject is Florida Senator and former
Governor Rick Scott. Both men were first elected Governor in 2010, so let’s do
the math to consider which state has managed its economy and finances better
over the last decade.”
Trump soars in approval as America begins reopening, challenges China
By Robert Romano
President Donald Trump continues to see his highest approval ratings of his first term in office, hitting 49 percent in the most recent Gallup survey (48 percent disapprove) and 51 percent in the Hill/HarrisX poll (49 percent disapprove) as the Trump administration continues its response to the China-originated COVID-19 pandemic and states begin reopening.
President Trump has demanded China release any and all information about the true origin of the virus out of Wuhan even while Beijing has sought to sow narratives that first it was planted by American military or later that it somehow came from Europe. Even though the virus began in early December, China would not confirm human to human transmission until Jan. 20 and by Jan. 24 had Wuhan on lockdown.
Besides the response to the massive disruptions caused by the pandemic both from a public health and economic perspective, Trump’s demands for accountability could be a critical factor shaping public sentiment about the virus and who to blame, with 48 percent who now have a negative view of China on account of the virus, according to Hill/HarrisX.
All told, 62 percent of Republicans have a more negative view of communist China, 36 percent of Democrats and 49 percent of independents. Above the age of 65, views toward China have soured to 57 percent, negative, from 50-64, to 55 percent, and 35-49, to 45 percent. A large plurality in all categories said the pandemic made no difference about their opinion.
As the election campaign wears on, and those views solidify, it could also begin to whittle down support for former Vice President Joe Biden, whose prior positions on China the Trump campaign will surely exploit.
In May 2019, Biden said at a campaign stop in Iowa, “China is going to eat our lunch? Come on, man…they can’t even figure out how to deal with the fact that they have this great division between the China Sea and the mountains in the east, I mean in the west… they can’t figure out how they’re going to deal with the corruption that exists within the system. I mean, you know, they’re not bad folks, folks. But guess what, they’re not, they’re not competition for us.”
In a fundraising call in April 2019, Biden claimed world leaders were begging him to run for president, “I get calls from people all over the world — world leaders are calling me — and they’re almost begging me to do this, to save the country, save the world.”
Overall, on approval, Trump appears to winning almost every demographic, with 50 percent approval among 50-64 and 65 and over. His strongest demographic is 35-49, with 59 percent approval. On the latter end of 35-49, of note, that’s the generation that grew up when Ronald Reagan was president.
All that, despite more than 23 million jobs lost since the pandemic began, shows resilient support for the incumbent administration. Oddly enough, the issue of the economy appears to have been neutralized, with voters blaming the virus-directed closures for the economic fallout and not anything that had been wrong policy wise. Now, with states taking the lead in reopening, it is possible that labor markets have already hit their bottoms or are near their bottoms, and will be recovering by the time November rolls around.
Such an accelerated jobs surge, as the pandemic becomes a memory, could make Trump an unstoppable force in November, with echoes of 1984, when the incumbent Reagan trounced former Vice President Walter Mondale. Is Biden like Mondale? We’re about to find out.
Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government.
Rick Manning on Hannity: Time to ReopenAmericaNow.org!
To view online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87KuZ6-7IDQ
Video: Delaware Salesman Says Business Now Coming Back, Kinda Wishes He Were In Texas!
By Frank McCaffrey
Electronics sales in the Wilmington, Delaware.market are improving.
“Business for us slowed down for maybe three weeks and then it’s picked up big time,” said salesman Matt McCarrie. “We’re considered essential. Two-way radios helps with social distancing. So for manufacturers and healthcare, they, they’re actually buying more. Education is the market segment that actually kind of cooled off for us.”
But salesman Matt McCarrie says it could be a lot better.He wants the government to reopen as quickly as possible
“It would be nice meet more and get more equipment sold and implemented. We do have technicians who aren’t going out for installs and what not. And, I don’t know, it would make things a whole lot simpler,” he added.
He says he wouldn't mind doing business in Texas, where reopening is moving quickly.
“Texas is a great state. It’s always been the best state. Regardless of what industry, whether it be in publishing, selling equipment, they always were the best. And, I just love going, I don’t really crazy about their football team. The Cowboys. But I always loved going down there because it was always clean and neat,” McCarrie said.
McCarrie's business instincts tell him the recovery will take a while.
“It’s so confusing. If you go to Facebook or you have people saying, ‘no no no stay home.’ Then you have other doctors giving press conferences saying it’s not as bad as you think it is. So it’s really confusing, the mixed message that’s out there. So I think it’s going to lag on and unfortunately it will probably get politicized. Even more than it is right now. I think the state’s probably that are slower to open will probably lean left.”
To view online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndxwEH4x04U
ALG Editor’s Note: In the following featured editorial from the Wall Street Journal, Democrats are pushing for a trillion dollar states bailout as state closures have shattered local economies and caused tax revenues to plummet:
Should Florida Bail Out New York?
Democrats want a $915 billion budget bailout for states and cities, and the leading lobbyist is New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. His main public antagonist on the subject is Florida Senator and former Governor Rick Scott. Both men were first elected Governor in 2010, so let’s do the math to consider which state has managed its economy and finances better over the last decade.
In 2010 New York’s population of 19.378 million was larger than Florida’s 18.8 million. By mid-2019 Florida had grown to 21.48 million, according to the Census Bureau, while New York had barely increased to 19.453 million. Yet Mr. Cuomo recently signed a budget for fiscal 2021 of $177 billion that is even bigger than last year’s, papering over what was a $6 billion deficit before the coronavirus. Florida’s budget for fiscal 2021, not yet signed by new Governor Ron DeSantis, is expected to be about $93 billion.
Democrats in Albany are claiming to be victims of events that are out of their control. But they have increased spending by $43 billion since 2010—about $570,000 for each additional person. Florida’s budget has increased by $28 billion while its population has grown 2.7 million—a $10,400 increase per new resident.
***
New York has a top state-and-local tax rate of 12.7%, while Florida has no income tax. Yet New York has a growing budget deficit, while Mr. Scott inherited a large deficit but built a surplus and paid down state debt. The difference is spending.
New York’s spending on worker retirement benefits has nearly doubled since 2010 and is six times greater than Florida’s. Its debt-service payments have also doubled. Albany’s biggest cost driver is Medicaid, which gobbles up 40% of the state budget—twice as much as education. Florida spends about the same on schools as on Medicaid.
Blame New York’s cocktail of generous benefits, loose eligibility standards and waste. New York spends about twice as much per Medicaid beneficiary and six times more on nursing homes as Florida though its elderly population is 20% smaller. Many New York nursing homes and hospitals are organized by unions, which use their political clout to drive generous pay and benefits.
Mr. Cuomo in 2014 expanded Medicaid as part of ObamaCare to able-bodied individuals earning up to 133% of the poverty line. Florida didn’t. While the federal government initially picked up 100% of the ObamaCare expansion tab, New York is now on the hook for 10%, which contributed to this year’s $4 billion Medicaid shortfall.
New York spends about $76 billion a year on Medicaid—three times more than Florida. Swelling Medicaid costs have squeezed spending on transportation, causing Empire State trains and roads to fall into disrepair. Florida has found money to pave potholes and increased transportation spending 10 times more than New York between 2010 and 2019.
Mr. Cuomo pleads poverty by claiming New York is a “donor” state to the federal government. But federal dollars account for about 35.9% of New York’s spending compared to 32.8% of Florida’s, according to the Tax Foundation. New Yorkers pay more in federal taxes than what Albany gets back because the progressive federal tax code hits high earners the hardest and New York still has many high earners. The “donors” are individuals, and the money isn’t Mr. Cuomo’s.
In any case, many high earners are moving to lower-tax states. New York lost $9.6 billion in adjusted gross income to other states in 2018 while Florida gained $16 billion. Workers are following jobs, and vice versa.
The rate of private job growth in Florida has been about 60% higher than in New York from January 2010 to January 2020. Finance jobs expanded by 25% in Florida compared to 9.7% in New York. By our calculations, New York would generate $10 billion more annually in tax revenue if its personal income had grown at the rate of Florida’s over the last decade.
New York’s future has been discounted before, but the coronavirus may be its most serious economic challenge. Many service businesses are learning they don’t need as many workers in the office and can save money by downsizing. Morgan Stanley has said it intends to reduce office space in New York City, and Twitter has told employees they can work remotely as long as they want. Many restaurants were struggling before the coronavirus due to New York’s high minimum wage, taxes, rents and suffocating regulation. Some may now close permanently.
***
Mr. Cuomo no doubt realizes all this, which is why last week he cited a repeal of the $10,000 limit on the state-and-local tax deduction as his top request from Congress to keep more high earners from leaving. He also wants $61 billion in budget relief, which the Empire Center’s E.J. McMahon notes would cover projected deficits for four years assuming spending increases by 4% annually.
The policy question is why taxpayers in Florida and other well-managed states should pay higher taxes to rescue an Albany political class that refuses to restrain its tax-and-spend governance. Public unions soak up an ever-larger share of tax dollars, but Albany refuses to change. Mr. Scott is right.
To view online: https://www.wsj.com/articles/should-florida-bail-out-new-york-11589746538
