Join UP’s Steve Moore, Tim Doescher, and other special guests on Thursday, December 12 at 3:00 PM EST for our popular webinar series covering the Trump transition. We will cover the ever-changing landscape here in DC, other timely developments (there are MANY) since Election Day, and always have a little fun. To RSVP, click the link below. See you then!
1) Postal Service Philosophy: The More Money We Lose, the More People we Hire
It's hard to believe that here we are in the new digital age in 2024 and we STILL have the government delivering the mail. At least we aren't delivering on horseback anymore.
Kudos to Senator Rand Paul for his masterful takedown of the Postal Service (USPS) for its hiring spree of 190,000 (!!), as it loses record amounts of money and faces multi-billion dollar unfunded liabilities.
Most of these are contract workers who have been converted to full-time, full benefits – 190,000 – just shocking. Why? More union workers!
Texas has gained millions of new residents and California has lost them over the past decade. Yet the chart below from the Financial Times shows that housing prices have grown twice as fast in California than in Texas. Texas has also added twice as many new homes as California since 2000.
The FT correctly blames urban land planners who restrict new housing:
Homes in Texan cities are cheap and their populations soaring because the state has made urban development easy. California, New York & London are overheating and squeezing out young families because their planning systems place artificial constraints on supply, making urban development extremely difficult.
One of our continuing missions in 2024-25 will be to try to persuade every American company to pull out of the absurd and economically ruinous “net zero” policies and pledges. We’re making steady progress, and now it appears most companies are renouncing their support for ending all fossil fuels.
But Goldman Sachs may not be entirely sincere in their promise to stay out.
Reuters reports:
The U.S. investment bank's decision comes against a backdrop of pressure from some Republican politicians who have suggested that membership of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) could breach anti-trust rules...
Banks joining the voluntary NZBA agree to align with the world's aim of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, set targets to help get them there and publish progress on their efforts each year, something Goldman Sachs said it would continue to do.
Net zero is bad for business, and we will see how many firms get out and stay out.
Anyone who’s a regular reader of the HOTLINE knows we’ve been making this case. And now we’ve been presenting the multitude of reasons why he’s certainly one of the worst ever. Maybe folks are reading the HOTLINE because voters are starting to agree with us.
How’s this for a supply side victory? The top film of 2024, according to Rotten Tomatoes viewer ratings (PopcornMeter), was Reagan (tied for first) at 98%!
The top-rated business show on TV this past year was Kudlow on Fox Business.
