1) Hardly Working

This chart below from our friends at EPIC is deeply troubling. It shows that fewer and fewer males between the ages of 16-24 are working. It used to be more than 70% were working, now it is less than 60%.

We would argue this is the MOST important age for men to be hard at work and honing their job skills. As we've said 100 times, the younger that men (especially) start working, the more successful they are in their careers and their lifetime earnings.

If we had our way, every college student would be working 10 to 20 hours a week.  

The college student loan program should be replaced by a student work program.

2) We Must Be Important: We Made the Epstein Emails

A New York Times reporter promptly forwarded an Art Laffer paper predicting Trump would win the 2016 election to Jeffrey Epstein with this commentary:

Kind of flattering.

We never met Epstein, but it is true that we wrote the first draft of the Trump tax cut back in January 2016.

3) Virginia Is for Union Thugs?

As regular HOTLINE readers know, right-to-work laws are highly associated with prosperity across states. The states (mostly in the south and mountain states) with Right to Work have for several decades had double the job creation rates as the forced union states.

Now, Virginia is about to become ground zero for the most aggressive Big Labor power grab in years. Virginia has been a right-to-work state for almost 80 years.

Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger campaigned on promises to “reform,” not repeal, right-to-work laws, whatever that means. Democrats in the state legislature are wasting no time pushing for full repeal.

In recent years, we've worked with our friend Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work, to keep these laws in place. It is imperative that Virginia NOT become the sore thumb of the south and turn state control over to the big labor bosses.

We also have some threats to Right to Work in Congress.  Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri wants to team up with Democrats to pass the PRO Act, a federal law that would ban all state right to work laws.

4) Is College the Answer?

In many cases, NO.  

The need for skilled tradespeople is at a crisis stage. Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford Motor, says he can't fill some 5,000 openings for mechanics despite offering a salary of $120,000 a year. That's twice the average annual salary.

"We have over a million openings in critical jobs, emergency services, trucking, factory workers, plumbers, electricians, and tradesmen," Farley says. Noting that it takes five years to learn to be a diesel mechanic, he says new intensive trade schools must open new branches. Enrollment in trade schools went up 16% last year while traditional universities saw a 1% drop in enrollment.

Many students would be smart to pursue a technical college or apprenticeship and learn skills they can put to good use right away.  

5) Why Critical Minerals Really Are "Critical"

UP recently published a report by Ned Mamula, Trump's new director of the US Geological Survey, that identifies approximately $12 trillion in mineral resources that could be developed in the US.  Now our video guru friends at Kite and Key have produced a video making the case for unlocking this treasure chest:

Bottom line: Until we solve the critical minerals problem, America's adversaries have powerful leverage over us.

Because of their control of those resources, they have the power to grind our economy -- and our national defense -- to a halt. Which leaves us incredibly vulnerable. And means that we either have to find a way out of this problem or wait until the inevitable conflict arises.

Though, should that day ever come, we have a secret weapon on our side. The one thing we know China fears most.

6) I'm From the Union and I'm Here To Help

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