op ed review 5/7
Republican Obamacare replacement bill finally passes House.
U.S. job growth rebounded sharply
in April and the unemployment rate dropped to 4.4 percent, near a 10-year low.
Trump 100 days ad.
CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC all refused to run the ad. Lara Trump: “Apparently, the mainstream media
are champions of the First Amendment only when it serves their own political
views. Faced with an ad that doesn’t fit their biased narrative, CNN, ABC, CBS,
and NBC have now all chosen to block our ad. This is an unprecedented act of
censorship in America that should concern every freedom-loving citizen.”
Barack Obama´s team used NSA technology to examine data
gathered on tens of thousands of Americans abroad during the election.
Officials searched both metadata and the actual contents of communications for
the names of more than 30,000 US citizens. And more than 3,000 of the resulting
intelligence reports were then circulated among government departments without
the names of the searched parties being redacted,
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4472052/Obama-s-team-used-NSA-data-gather-info-citizens.html
Sen. Rand Paul has asked the intelligence community and
White House for any evidence that he was surveilled by former President Obama.
Congressional
negotiators have come up with a $1.07 trillion plan to keep the government
running through the end of September – but there’s a lot missing. The bill includes $1.5 billion for border security, but no funding
for a border wall. There are no
cuts for Planned Parenthood,
During the presidential campaign, Trump promised to build a “new special
deportation task force” to remove millions of immigrants who are in the U.S.
illegally. No funding goes toward such a force. There is no sign of massive
non-defense spending cuts, another goal of the Trump administration. So-called
sanctuary cities — which limit cooperation with the federal government on
immigration law in order to shelter immigrants here illegally — will not be
deprived of federal funding…..
Democrats celebrate Republican budget.
President Trump tweets that Republicans must get more
senators elected or change the Senate's rules so they can push spending through
with only a majority vote, rather than 60. He then wrote that the country
"needs a good 'shutdown' in September" to fix a "mess."
The Texas Legislature passed a Convention of States
Resolution, becoming the eleventh. Article V of the U.S. Constitution allows
for a Convention of States to restrict the power of the federal government.
LGBT activists force withdrawal of President Trump’s pick
for Secretary of the Army, a combat hero and devout Christian. His unforgivable crime: he once said he
thought “transgender is a disease.”
Hillary Clinton is back, claiming Planned Parenthood “holds
the moral high ground.”
#FireColbert Twitter campaign gains steam after Stephen
Colbert's profane Donald Trump rant
DNC Chair Tom Perez: “There
are no illegal immigrants.” (Just
undocumented Democrats.)
Some Facts Jimmy Kimmel Left Out Of His Emotional ObamaCare
Plea
Iran is using the billions in cash provided by President
Obama under the nuclear deal to engage in an unprecedented military buildup
meant to transform the Islamic Republic´s fighting force into an
"offensive" juggernaut.
USDA to make school lunches edible again. Michelle Obama
hardest hit.
President Trump Sets ARENA RECORD at Harrisburg Rally.
The Archdiocese of Kansas City is ending its relationship
with the Girl Scouts and transitioning its support to a Christian-based
scouting group, saying the Girl Scouts’ programs and materials are
“reflective of many of the troubling trends in our secular culture.”
__________________________________________________________________
COLUMN OF THE WEEK
Thomas Sowell: Tax Lies for the Gullible
One of the painful realities of our times is how long a
political lie can survive, even after having been disproved years ago, or even
generations ago.
A classic example is the phrase "tax cuts for the
rich," which is loudly proclaimed by opponents, whenever there is a
proposal to reduce tax rates. The current proposal to reduce federal tax rates
has revived this phrase, which was disproved by facts, as far back as the 1920s
— and by now should be called "tax lies for the gullible."
How is the claim of "tax cuts for the rich" false?
Let me count the ways. More important, you can easily check out the facts for
yourself with a simple visit to your local public library or, for those more
computer-minded, on the internet.
One of the key arguments of those who oppose what they call
"tax cuts for the rich" is that the Reagan administration tax cuts
led to huge federal government deficits, contrary to "supply side
economics" which said that lower tax rates would lead to higher tax
revenues. This reduces the whole issue to a question about facts — and the hard
facts are available in many places, including a local public library or on the
internet.
The hardest of these hard facts is that the revenues
collected from federal income taxes during every year of the Reagan
administration were higher than the revenues collected from federal income
taxes during any year of any previous administration.
How can that be? Because tax rates and tax revenues
are two different things. Tax rates and tax revenues can move in either the
same direction or in opposite directions, depending on how the economy
responds. But why should you take my word for it that federal income tax
revenues were higher than before during the Reagan administration? Check it
out.
Official statistics are available in many places. The
easiest way to find those statistics is to go look at a copy of the annual
"Economic Report of the President." It doesn't have to be the latest
Report under President Trump. It can be a Report from any administration, from
the Obama administration all the way back to the administration of the elder
George Bush.
Each annual "Economic Report of the President" has
the history of federal revenues and expenditures, going back for decades. And
that is just one of the places where you can get this data. The truth is
readily available, if you want it. But, if you are satisfied with political
rhetoric, so be it.
Before we turn to the question of "the rich,"
let's first understand the implications of higher income tax revenues after income
tax rates were cut during the Reagan administration.
That should have put an end to the talk about how lower tax
rates reduce government revenues and therefore tax cuts need to be "paid
for" or else there will be rising deficits. There were in fact rising
deficits in the 1980s, but that was due to spending that outran even the rising
tax revenues.
Congress does the spending, and there is no amount of money
that Congress cannot outspend. As for "the rich," higher-income
taxpayers paid more — repeat, more tax revenues into the federal
treasury under the lower tax rates than they had under the previous higher tax
rates.
That happened not only during the Reagan administration, but
also during the Coolidge administration and the Kennedy administration before
Reagan, and under the G.W. Bush administration after Reagan. All these
administrations cut tax rates and received higher tax revenues than before.
More than that, "the rich" not only paid higher
total tax revenues after the so-called "tax cuts for the rich," they
also paid a higher percentage of all tax revenues afterwards. Data on this can
be found in a number of places, including documented sources listed in my
monograph titled "'Trickle Down' Theory and 'Tax Cuts for the Rich.'"
As a source more congenial to some, a front-page story in
The New York Times on July 9, 2006 — during the Bush 43 administration —
reported, "An unexpectedly steep rise in tax revenues from corporations
and the wealthy is driving down the projected budget deficit this year." Expectations,
of course, are in the eye of the beholder.
____________________________________________________________________
OTHER COLUMNS
“Liberals think that you help Peter by taking from Paul. I
think you help both Peter and Paul by creating the best possible conditions for
opportunity for both of them. How do you create the best possible conditions
for opportunity for both Peter and Paul? Freedom. Tons of data and studies show
that countries that have the most economic freedom … are the most prosperous.
And even the poorest in these countries are far better off than the poorest in
countries without economic freedom. You don’t need a Ph.D. in economics to
understand that a country that punishes success is going to be less wealthy
than a country that rewards it.”
-Star
Parker
“History is littered with the human wreckage of scientific
errors married to political power.”
-Bret
Stephens
_____________________________________________________________________
LEFTIST WATCH
In anticipation of May Day, the international communist
holiday, the New York Times published an opinion piece celebrating the American
communists of the twentieth century, arguing that communism – an ideology that
has killed 100 million people – gave Americans a “sense of one’s own humanity.”
Title of the column: “When Communism Inspired Americans.”
After Pope Francis early in his papacy decried capitalism as
“trickle-down economics” — a polemical phrase coined by the left during the Reagan
years that Francis frequently borrows — radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh
commented, “This is just pure Marxism coming out of the mouth of the Pope.”
Talk show host Michael Savage called him “Lenin’s pope.” Pope Francis took such
comments as a compliment. “I have met many Marxists in my life who are good
people, so I don’t feel offended,” he told the Italian press.
Does George Soros have an advocate in the White House? “Clinton
Cash’ Author Sounds The Alarm Over Jared Kushner’s Partnership With George
Soros”
__________________________________________________________________
ARTICLES
Betsy McCaughey: The Democrats´ Pre-Existing Condition Scam
For Democrats these days, the key word in their political
vocabulary is “resistance.” Amid the flurry of analysis and commentary marking
President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, the Democratic Party’s
position was clear: It is fighting the president and all he does, pure and
simple. “Yesterday, we marked Donald Trump’s hundredth day in office—and, much
more importantly 100 days of resistance,” declared a weekend email message from
party Chairman Tom Perez. That message used the word “resistance” three times.
What
Caused Venezuela´s Collapse Is No Mystery — Except To Economically Illiterate
Journalists
_____________________________________________________________________
NOTEWORTHY LISTS, PHOTOS, CHARTS, ETC.
Stunning photos have emerged of an erupting volcano
appearing to spew clouds of ash into the Milky Way above. Dutch photographer
Albert Dros camped out under the stars to get the perfect shot of Fuego Volcano
in Guatemala as lava was spurting out of its crater. The 31-year-old said he
was ´paralysed with awe´ as he watched ash clouds drift up into the night sky –
al
____________________________________________________________
WISE WORDS
“To cherish and stimulate the activity of the human mind, by
multiplying the objects of enterprise, is not among the least considerable of
the expedients, by which the wealth of a nation may be promoted.”
-Alexander Hamilton
posted by gary at
9:38 AM
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