1) Biden's Parting Gift To America: Another $2 Trillion Deficit

The Congressional Budget Office just reported its last monthly report on the Biden fiscal record. Can you say calamity?

For the first three months of fiscal year 2025 that began on October 1st, the government borrowed $710 billion - almost $200 billion more than the same time last year. Revenues are down 2% and spending was up a gigantic 11%.  

In short: the red ink is piling up higher not lower. This is supposed to be a recovery. 

If you want a good laugh: remember when Biden claimed he "reduced the deficit more than any other president!"
 

2) Why Europe Hates America's Magnificent Seven Tech Companies

The answer is envy - one of the seven deadly sins. This chart shows why they are so green with jealousy:
 

Six of the seven had monster returns last year. Europe's stock market flatlined. These companies alone have a market cap that approaches all the publicly traded companies in Europe.

Here's a quick explanation for why we dominate in nearly every area of tech, including social media, search engines, cell phones, AI, bioengineering, and robotics: we innovate. Europe regulates.  

The latest regulatory assault is the EU's sham lawsuit against Apple as a monopolistic force, because iPhones are so popular in Europe. The EU regulators want to force Apple to put Apps on their devices.

The Biden regulators applauded these assaults against U.S. tech companies. Our hope is that the Trump administration retaliates against these "poor loser" lawsuits by our foreign competitors.

3) The Dollar Is the Least Rotten Apple in the Cart

We keep getting asked by readers: if the dollar is being devalued (as measured by consumer inflation and the rising price of gold), why is the dollar soaring against other currencies?

The answer, as Unleash Prosperity Economic Advisory Council member, Judy Shelton explains: while the dollar has lost half its value relative to the gold price over the past decade, most of our competitors have seen their currencies fall by almost twice as much in their value relative to gold. 

This chart (the US dollar is in purple), shows that, as she puts it, "we are the least dirty shirt in the laundry." But the shirt is still dirty.
 

Joe Biden's one-term "reign of error" has left the country with an all-time record number of workers working for federal, state and local governments - 23.5 million according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"In 2024, more than half of all jobs added were paid for with taxpayer dollars, reports our ace economist EJ Antoni. "The number of people reporting that they were employed by the government surged by 438,000 in 2024, which is depressing the unemployment rate without increasing the number of people engaged in productive private sector activity."
 

Tomorrow our friend and colleague Russ Vought (Trump's pick to run the Office of Management and Budget) goes before the Senate for his confirmation hearing. Vought is exactly what Trump and conservatives need in that chair: a veteran budget hawk who will identify hundreds of billions of dollars of savings.
 

Yesterday the Washington Post endorsed all but four of Trump's nominees, opposing only Hegseth, Tulsi, RFK, and...  Russ Vought.

Their opposition to Russ is over his sound argument that the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 - which forces the president to spend every penny appropriated by Congress - is unconstitutional. Prior to 1974, appropriations were ceilings on spending, which is to say that if Congress appropriated $100 million for a bridge but the president could build it for $50 million, he wouldn't have to spend the rest.

Trump should assert this right to not spend money when it isn't needed, and see what the courts have to say. Every president from Thomas Jefferson to Richard Nixon exercised this power to save money - and given the existential threat of runaway debt spending, Trump and future presidents should have it too. 

We at Unleash liked the Reagan movie, though most of us didn't love it. It's no Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, or The Godfather. 

But it was a hit at the box office and won a 98% thumbs up from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.
 

However, due to diversity rules, Hollywood has disqualified the film from consideration for the Academy Awards. It wouldn't have won anyway, but this is outrageous!

Doesn't Hollywood (the place that is supposed to set trends, not follow them) realize that DEI is SO yesterday?

We wonder if the academy will rescind the awards to Casablanca and The Sound of Music for lack of diversity?
 

Know anyone else who would appreciate the Hotline? Please direct them to subscribe at: https://committeetounleashprosperity.com/hotline/
 

Have an idea for an item that should be in our newsletter? Send us any charts, statistics, heroes/villains, or humor that you’d like to see featured!