1) A GOP Anti-Freedom Caucus?

This headline from Politico scared us:
 

Members of the House Freedom Caucus have an idea for lawmakers from California, New Jersey and New York seeking to expand a key tax deduction in negotiations over a sweeping GOP policy bill: We'll trade you lower taxes on your constituents for higher taxes on your companies.

Turns out Politico got the story half right and half wrong. It is true that some conservative Republicans are saying that IF we must raise the State and Local (SALT) deduction, then this should be paid for by eliminating or capping the corporate SALT deduction. This has long been OUR parity proposal. If small businesses can't deduct their taxes, why should corporations?  

However, some House Republicans want to raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 25% in order to reduce the deficit and pay for SALT relief.  

That is a rotten idea. It would raise the U.S. corporate rate to well above the international average and toss our economy in a competitive hole. It turns 40 years of supply side Reaganomics on its head. This scheme would trade more tax loopholes for higher tax rates. We always and everywhere want fewer loopholes and LOWER rates.  

Our friend David Asman of Fox News points out that raising the rates will end up losing money:
 

2) Are Even the Communists Coming Around to Trumponomics?

Amazing headline from Bloomberg on the spread of populist Trumpism around the world:
 

Here's an excerpt: 

As Elon Musk and Argentina's Javier Milei champion ambitious plans to dramatically slash the size of government, a similar effort is getting underway across the globe from political leaders with a completely different ideology: Vietnam's Communist Party.

In what amounts to the biggest overhaul of the state since adopting pro-market reforms in the 1980s, Vietnamese officials are targeting a roughly 20% reduction in the size of ministries, government agencies, and civil service workforce.

This is just as we predicted in the HOTLINE a few weeks ago. First, Canada, and now Vietnam. 

If actual Communists can cut spending and regulations, why can't California and New York...or Washington?

3) Meanwhile, Germany's Economy Is Collapsing

For several decades after World War 2 Germany rebuilt and became the pride of Europe. Germany was an industrial powerhouse and its engineering was once again renowned as the best in the world.

Then came Angela Merkel, the "Climate Chancellor," whose agenda was to quit fossil fuels AND nuclear power in favor of "green energy." At every G8 meeting she preached no carbon emissions and a moratorium on oil, gas, and coal.

Here is a report issued yesterday: 

Germany's GDP fell by 0.2% in 2024, following a 0.3% contraction in 2023. Manufacturing saw a significant drop in output (-3%), with key sectors like machinery and automotive experiencing declines. The construction industry also struggled, with a 3.8% decrease in gross value added due to high construction prices and interest rates, though civil engineering grew.  Gross fixed capital formation dropped by 2.8%, especially in construction and machinery. Household consumption increased slightly (0.3%), with spending on health and transport rising. Government consumption grew by 2.6%, driven by higher social benefits. Foreign trade struggled, with exports down 0.8% and imports up slightly by 0.2%. 
 

No Growth Germany

The NYT reports Germans have some of the highest taxes in the industrialized world, with workers paying nearly half their income in taxes compared with an average of about 35% in other developed nations.

That's a good way to stall out an economy.

Russ Vought turned in a rock-solid permanence yesterday in his nomination appearance before the Senate.

But that didn't prevent The New York Times from launching its usual tirade. The Times wrote:
 

But it IS true that executive power is vested in the president, which in no way diminishes the power of the other branches.

Vought gets this "outlandish" idea from Article II of the Constitution, which says: 

"The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America."

The problem has been that the left has created an unconstitutional fourth branch of government called the regulatory state - which in recent years has been accountable to no one. The New York Times and Dems in Congress want to keep it that way. 

Now that the Supreme Court has recently and rightly reined in these ABC agency powers in the Chevron, we hope Trump (and Russ Vought) uses Executive Branch authority to shrink the $1.8 trillion regulatory state. 

In the meantime, we hope the editors at The New York Times require civics courses for their reporters. 

Oakland, California has had one of the worst crime and corruption crises in America thanks to progressive governance. To their credit, voters finally rose up and recalled Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao over corruption charges and allowing the crime rate to soar.

The city's been rated by its own residents "a disaster."
 

But who is the leading candidate to replace Thao? None other than Barbara Lee, the local retiring member of Congress. Lee called for a minimum wage of $50 an hour when she ran for U.S. Senate last year - a recipe for urban destruction.

In 2001, in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, Ms. Lee was also the sole member of Congress to vote against authorizing the president to use necessary force against terrorism, and in 2016 praised the late Fidel Castro as "a recognized world leader who was dedicated to the Cuban people." She had one of the worst National Taxpayer Union rankings in the entire Congress.

How is this woman the answer to any of the city or state's fiscal, economic or crime problems?

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