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Treestands, Presidential Treason and Unchecked Presidential Power

First: No more hang-on treestands

Baltimore Orioles broadcaster, Ben McDonald, tweeted out a picture of himself in a hospital bed saying “This is what a severe concussion looks like and sounds like (I still don’t remember anything). Apparently I fell out of a deer stand 25 feet up yesterday morning.” He also suffered two cracked vertebrae. First, I don’t know any place that has deer season opened this early. McDonald was apparently putting a stand in place for the upcoming season or else the wildlife rangers would be at his hospital bed arresting him for hunting out of season. 

Ben, I feel your pain. In October 2015 I too fell out of a stand while hunting on the farm in Georgia. Mine was 20 feet up. I walked to the stand early in the morning while dark and went up the climbing stick to the stand. When I stepped on the platform, it gave way causing me to fall twenty feet. When I came to, I laid there assessing the situation. I could move my limbs and but had pain in my left side and left shoulder.  I had to use my flashlight to find my glasses. I had landed on my backpack and had just missed falling on my gun (I hoist my weapon up to the stand once and strap myself in). I had also missed hitting the steps on the climbing stick which would have cause serious damage (pictured). I had replaced the straps before the season and it was not until first light did I notice that my straps had been cut (also pictured)! I had previously had some trouble with poachers who had ignored my no trespassing signs. I had alerted the local ranger who suggested I paint markers on the trees. Well obviously the good old boys did not take it kindly and cut the straps on my stand. I went to the emergency room where they did x-rays and a cat scan. The doctor told me I was lucky and that falling on the backpack had probably saved me from more serious injury. I had a mild concussion, bruised ribs and a slightly separated shoulder. Otherwise I was fine although later I had to have total shoulder replacement.

I called the ranger and sent him a picture of the sabotaged stand and a picture of where my head landed close to the climbing stick. I don’t know what happened to the yahoos but the next season one of the properties that adjoin the farm was leased to a new group (from Florida). I haven’t had any more trouble. I immediately replaced all my hang on stands with ladder stands and now I always check the security of the stand before I start climbing.

Second: Obama – treason?

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has issued a criminal referral to the Department of Justice, saying that former president Barack Obama and his national security team manufactured the Russia hoax trying to in essence stage a coup to remove President Trump from office. Mind you, this would have to start prior to Trump taking office. Gabbard says that she has over 100 documents that provide evidence of this effort and essentially accuses Obama along with James Comey, John Brennan, James Clapper and Susan Rice of a “treasonous conspiracy”. Gabbard says this is a “prosecutable crime”. Stay tuned.

Is Adam Schiff included in this group? When did Gabbard acquire this information? Is this being brought to light to deflect attention to the MAGA mess over the Epstein “list” – or no list? It will be no surprise if Trump’s “Justice” Department and AG (Blondie) Bondi go before a grand jury, issue subpoenas to Obama and his intelligence crew and proceed with criminal indictments. I cannot begin to imagine what happens next. Would there be significant fines and jail time for a former president, a former FBI director, a former CIA head and a former advisor to the president? That would seriously shake the very foundations of the country. 

Third: Unchecked Presidential Power 

Trump is testing the limits of presidential power. He has taken it upon himself to downsize the federal government. He has impounded congressionally appropriated funds. He has unilaterally re-written trade policy with his tariffs. He has changed the environmental edicts of Biden along with DEI and CRT. He has replaced leadership in the military removing and reassigning generals and admirals who are considered “woke”. He is busily removing trans and perhaps gays from the military. He has fired presidential appointees with fixed terms (see the National Credit Union Administration). He keeps cursing the chairman of the fed while threatening to fire him. All in six months. All this while republicans in the congress meekly allow him to do so, even as he usurps their authority.

He is using tariffs as a political cudgel, trying to force the world to bend to his wishes – however erratic they might be. Most of what he has said about the motivation for his imposing tariffs are really a rope-a-dope. Deficits a national security issue – a lie and he knows it. Reciprocal tariffs – another lie. US getting ripped off? Another lie. You mean that the strongest economic power in the world is getting ripped off by Lesotho? Or even Viet Nam? Seriously? No. Trump’s 50% tariff on Brazil shows that what he really wants is for countries to let him be their president. Canada anyone?

This is from Don Boudreaux’s Café Hayek

https://cafehayek.com

July 21, 2025

“Today’s shambolic civic life, with the public sector dominating and corrupting the private sector, reveals this: The Founders’ elegant architecture of institutions for liberty under limited government guarantees nothing when the institutions are inhabited by the unenlightened.

Trump’s ever-shifting and contradictory rationales for tariffs (curing trade deficits, strengthening national security, punishing ingratitude, etc.) reveal that protectionism is not an economic policy but a political strategy for aggrandizing personal power. His tornado of tariffs-by-whim produces an endless auction as businesses bid for beneficial whims: intensifications of, or exemptions from, tariffs.

As the American Enterprise Institute’s Dalibor Rohac says, when tariffs are multiple and malleable private rent-seeking (bending government for preferential treatment or for injurious treatment of competitors) displaces entrepreneurial talent and shrewd management as the path to economic success. Rent-seeking has always been with us, but not on today’s scale as innumerable factions become genuflecting supplicants, groveling for presidential favors.

The most statist administration in U.S. history has replaced capitalism with what economists call “economic repression”: government supplanting the market by restraining or compelling economic activities for political objectives.”

Thanks Don.

Bye bye Department of Education – for now

The President has been given permission by the Supreme Court to downsize the Department of Education. I am confused. Rubio is downsizing the State Department but I don’t recall his asking the Supreme Court for permission to do so. Regardless, neither the reduction in force at State or at Education can be permanent. The departments were created by an act of congress and only congress can eliminate them. The next democrat administration will restore both.

Linda McMahon the Secretary of Education said “Today, the Supreme Court (by a 6-3 vote) again confirmed the obvious: the President of the United States, as the head of the Executive Branch, has the ultimate authority to make decisions about staffing levels, administrative organization, and day-to-day operations of federal agencies,”

The president of the Heritage Foundation among many others applauded the downsizing say that the department was an “abject failure” and failed in its mission to improve American education. I disagree. The department has been a rip roaring success and has not been an “abject failure.” Only the naïve would assume that the purpose of the department has been to improve American education. Elizabeth Warraen tweeted “Trump’s Supreme Court just greenlit his plans to gut the Department of Education. Every kid in America deserves access to a good public education.” Somehow she wants us to think that there is a relationship between funding the Department of Education and receiving a good public education. She knows better and so should most Americans. The purpose of the department of education was to funnel money into the education-industrial complex, namely the teachers’ unions. No wonder they are whining. While the number of students in public education is falling, the number of administrative staff has shot through the roof.

The teachers’ unions do not care about educating our children. Every sign of achievement has fallen since the establishment of the department. I have noted before that at the teachers’ unions conventions are hardly any sessions on teaching. Rather critical race theory, LGBTQ issues and equity take center stage perhaps not surprisingly since the head of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten – a woman – is married to a woman. This is a statement from Biden’s Department of Education which was all in for imposing trans policies on every school receiving federal funding. “Every student deserves to learn in a safe and supportive setting, free from discrimination. As the Department of Education has reaffirmed, discrimination based on sex—including sexual orientation and gender identity—isn’t just wrong, it’s prohibited in America’s schools. Yet many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) students experience bullying, harassment, and other discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.” Obviously, the Trump administration vanquished all such pronouncements.

Downsizing the department does not mean that the funding that was appropriated by the congress will vanish into the ether. Trump could impound it or he could allocate it to the states in block grants. But remember that the department was low hanging fruit. It has a relatively small budget and employs only 4,400 people Consider that State just laid off 1,350 workers with a goal of 3,000. This is out of a workforce of over 80,000.

Some are saying that when the Department of Education basically disappears under Trump that it will stay gone because nobody will miss it. Au contraire, those on the gravy train will miss it. The teachers’ unions are run by democrat operatives and fund democrats. Does it surprise anyone that the bulk of the spending by those unions goes for political activities and 94 percent of that goes to democrats? The unions spend more for politics than they do for representing members. Mark my word, the democrats will resurrect the department at the first opportunity.

If the criteria for doing away with a department is that it has failed its stated mission, then more cabinet agencies need to go bye bye. Energy, Small Business Administration, Labor, Interior, Commerce, Housing and Urban Development and Agriculture come to mind. I think that Defense, Homeland Security, Treasury and Health and Human Services may be worthwhile but all are grossly overstaffed and overfunded. Just keep in mind that democrats disagree because in their eyes, every penny of federal money is vital and every federal employee is essential (as long as they keep voting democrat).

Finally, why is the department’s headquarters’ building named after Lyndon Johnson? Shouldn’t it be named after Jimmy Carter instead?

More Random Thoughts #64

Adam Schiff, Biden’s mental acuity, Epstein, Fed renovation and ET go home (and get paid)

Adam Schiff who led the Trump inquisition witch hunt (nee impeachment trial) which landed him in the Senate is now being investigated by the Justice Department for alleged mortgage fraud. Seems that Schiff claimed Maryland as his primary residence to receive more favorable loan terms. The law clearly states that a US senator must have primary residence in his home state. Schiff of course is whining that he is being investigated by the Trump Justice Department solely because he led the House impeachment trial. You think?

The House Oversight Committee, which has nothing better to do, is investigating the cover up of Biden’s mental decline. Witnesses have been subpoenaed. Rumor has it that Jill Biden may be called. I guess the reason is to invalidate any actions signed by the autopen. This is stupid. Apparently the only ones who did not know of Biden’s mental state were democratsand the media. My sainted mother who died at age 101 used to refer to Biden as “that pitiful old man.” Two of Biden’s aides took the 5^th. One of Biden’s defenders was Jasmine Crockett who defended Biden while criticizing President Trump. “So yeah, he would maybe clobber over some words or something like that. But if you talk to him about foreign policy – one of the most vivid memories that I have was after that debate that did not go well, we saw him have this complete command of foreign policy, something that this president doesn’t. And this president seemingly doesn’t even know who our allies are.” You know, she may have a point there.

I don’t know anything about the Epstein files. Was there a client list? It seems that Trump once thought there was and his attorney general said when asked directly about the client list responded, “It’s sitting on my desk right now to review.” The MAGA universe was all atwitter (now I guess that is all aX) because the democrats had sat on it while Biden was in office so it must contain some dirt on some really big dems. Right? Well all of a sudden Bondi the AG says that “systematic review of documents revealed no incriminating client list” and “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.” WTF? No incriminating client list? Then what was Trump and Bondi talking about before? Now half of the MAGA universe is suddenly supporting Trump’s new revelation while the other half is seething. Thomas Massie who is Trump’s republican nemesis in the House is demanding to see all the government’s records on Epstein. He has introduced a discharge petition in the House to “make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Attorneys’ Offices” that have links with Epstein.”  Massie said members of the public “deserve to know what’s in the Epstein files, who’s implicated, and how deep this corruption goes.” He has some support from some of his colleagues including my congressman Tim Burchett along with Marjorie Taylor Greene (Georgia), Eric Burlison (Mississippi), Jeff Van Drew (New York) and Lauren Boebert (Colorado).

But interestingly hardly a peep from the democrat leadership. Surely given their hatred of the president and their desire to see him gone, they should be leading the charge. But again, they did not want the now non-existent list released when Biden was president and it seems that they do not want it released now. Why? Is there a cover up both by the democrats and now by Trump. Didn’t Musk say that Trump’s name was on the list? Is something there? Why is the media – with the exception of the Wall treet Journal – which incessantly gave us stories about the Russia hoax is almost ignoring this one.

Is there a conspiracy? Trump who loves conspiracy theories – he has tweeted over 100 of them including most famously about Obama’s birth certificate, – now says that there is a conspiracy out to get him. “Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bull—t,’ hook, line, and sinker. I don’t want their support anymore!” Poor baby. Even the MAGA apologists have a hard time defending Trump now. For a truly astounding list of Trump’s conspiracies go to 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_conspiracy_theories_promoted_by_Donald_Trump

You have to feel sorry for the MAGA apologists. They have had to keep the stiff upper lip though two impeachments, porn actress payoff, criminal indictments, lawsuits, the raid at Mar-a-Lago, two assassination attempts, all the conspiracy theories and all the bombastic and profane tweets. What are they saying now especially since Dan Bongino – another MAGA favorite – seems to be at odds with AG Bondi? It’s a bad look. Trump has been a survivor and may survive this one too. If it were just Trump, he would be out. But it all looks like there are too many mega biggies in politics, business and the media itself with too much influence to be outed. 

Trump grasping at every straw is trying to oust Fed chairman Powell over cost overruns on the renovation of the Fed’s headquarters in DC. The original cost was $1.9 billion and is now $2.5 billion. The difference is chump change. Mind you nothing was said about the original cost estimate – I guess it is all that union labor. The Fed said its headquarters buildings are in a significant state of disrepair with asbestos contamination, antiquated plumbing and old ventilation. I can tell you that in my many visits to their William McChesney Martin building, I have marveled at the old grandeur of the building and the barely functioning toilets.

Trump, of course, accuses Powell of mismanagement and thinks it may be grounds for firing him. Huh? If that is the case, then there are grounds for firing everybody on Capitol Hill including Trump himself. One would say that these grounds are dubious at best. But MAGA apologist Anna Paulina Luna of Florida is criminally referring Powell to the Justice Department for alleged perjury. Russell Vought, a Trump hack at OMB claims that Powell violated the National Capital Planning Act – whatever that is – and could be grounds for removal. Yea sure. When has there not been a cost overrun in any budget allocation in DC? This would be embarrassing if it were not so stupid. BTW, the Fed is using its own money and not – like congress – the taxpayers.

Seems like one million illegals have self deported. They are using something called the CBP home app to receive $1,000 when the app confirms that they are in their home country. I wonder if a family leaves will each family member get $1,000? Regardless, if all used the app then the total bill is $1 billion. Where did that money come from? How much was budgeted? Is this a cost overrun? Homeland Security says that at the end of April, 207,000 illegals have been deported. The cost of Homeland Security deporting an illegal is $14,000 to $20,000. So let’s use $17,000 as an average figure and multiply 207,000 and get $3,518,900,000. Hum. Self deporting is a bargain. You think that if they offered say $10,000 they could save money and there would a a flood of illegals rushing to self-deport. However, this would surely result in a cost overrun.

Zohran Mamdani, New York’s flower child

Isn’t it a bit amusing to see all the stories bashing Zohran Mamdani? Don’t you think that his voters know that the is a socialist radical? One who wants to raise taxes on the wealthy and the corporations? Who wants to give all sorts of stuff to the poor? Who wants to freeze rents? Who wants to raise minimum wages? Who wants to send social workers to domestic violence calls rather than cops? Who wants to globalize the intifada? Who wants city run grocery stores? Who wants no more billionaires? Who wants to boycott, disinvest and sanctions against Israel? Who is unapologetic about his socialism? Who says “violence is an artificial construct?” Who says “A statue of Columbus remains in Astoria, in defiance of the values of humanity, empathy & justice that we stand for.” Who wants to universal childcare? Who wants to seize the seize the means of production? Hold it, seize the means of production? In New York City? What are they producing – municipal bonds?

Mamdani has said that if he is out of work he can always get support from his parents. He has obviously needed it with virtually no real job on his resume. He was a failed rap “artist”, lived in subsidized housing and only worked for three years before being elected to the New York State Assembly. He is from Uganda and his major at Bowdoin College (home of the great Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain) was Africana studies – of course. He just wants to “envision a world marked by equality, sustainability, justice, and love.“  A flower child? Hey, sounds like the perfect mayor for New York to me.

Mamdani’s support is mainly among young college “educated” whites. Although his platform was based on an erstwhile Robin Hood – taking from the rich and giving to the poor – the poor in New York voted for Cuomo. Some are saying that voting for Mamdani was the result of our education system which is dominated by socialists and anticapitalists. Maybe so, but most of youth turn into their parents once they have to leave the cocoon of home and college and get a real job. They become less willing to give up their money to the government to be distributed first to the bureaucrats than then secondly to the masses. Maybe the youth in New York just wanted to be anti-establishment. Or maybe Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo were worse losers in their eyes, 

Some say that these young folk are naïve and stupid. If so, then kindly explain the support for Mamdani among some of the city’s millionaires. Some of his supporters are among the city’s new generation of millennial millionaires, tech founders, venture capitalists, and Wall Street traders who are backing Mamdani despite his wanting to tax the rich to pay for his expansive social give-aways. One young venture capitalist says “In my eyes, I should absolutely be paying my fair share for the people that need it.” Did anyone tell him that he could start a foundation to serve that purpose? Or make a direct contribution to the poor? Why does he need the government as a middleman? This guy is an idiot.

And speaking of idiots, voting data show that about a third of the city’s wealthiest residents supported Mamdani in the primary.

Current polls show that despite some of the city’s old money trying to coalesce around Adams who has virtually no chance of winning, Mamdani maintains a solid lead and will be elected. I say good riddance. The founders of this country set up a democratic republic with states rights. The states could be “laboratories of democracy.”  Louis Brandeis noted that the federal system of government allowed any state to be a laboratory for experiments in policy without putting the nation as a whole at risk. Well in that spirit, let New York City embark on its experiment of socialism. Even Bernie Sanders’ Vermont, home of Ben and Jerry’s, has a republican governor. Let Sanders can be an advisor. Maybe AOC can be head of a city department. No testimony from those fleeing oppressive socialist regimes will do. No appeals to history will do. No, the only way the children of socialism will learn their lesson is to experience it.

Bring it on.

Donald Trump: Liberator?

Although Donald Trump proclaimed April 2 as “Liberation Day” perhaps he should change the date to June 12. That was when he signed the law striking down California’s emissions standards. Recall that California would have phased out the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035 and that 11 other states and DC had foolishly committed to do the same. If Trump had any sense of the dramatic, he should have waited until June 19^th (Juneteenth).

Why Juneteenth – black liberation day? Its because EVs are racist, of course. The cost is out of the reach of most black and brown households. They are expensive. A base Hyundai Kona costs $22,595 while a Hyundai Kona Electric is $35,295. A base Ford F-150 is $40,960 while a base Ford F-150 Lightning: $51,975. However, I defy you to find a base Lightning. I was at my local Ford dealer getting my F-250 diesel serviced and every Lightning I saw was over $70,000. One was over $90,000! Even with the EV credits, now expired, the EVs costs more. If the greenies were interested in equity, they would lobby for cheaper EVs from China. But Joe Biden kept Trump’s 100% tariff on Chinese EVs. Some equity. Let them eat cake!

The mean family income of black households is $53,000 well below the $75,000 of white households. Yet even among whites, the average cost of an EV is prohibitive. The average price of an EV is $56,910 while that of a gas powered car is $48,900. Personally, I think both price averages are outrageous. Before tariffs the cheapest electric was a Nissan Leaf at $29,280. I guess we could buy one, put mag wheels on it, lower the suspension, give it a spiffy paint job, put a spoiler on back and hang foam dice from the rear view mirror. Never mind.

Here is what one EV advocate says “Among Black and Latino consumers, incomes and credit scores are lower overall, which can make new EVs financially out of reach for families that might otherwise consider buying them. As more vehicle options emerge and older EVs make their way to the used car market, costs to purchase an EV will drop and fall in line with gasoline counterparts. But equitable EV adoption can only be achieved through the creation of incentive programs that are effective and accessible for all consumers.” All total, blacks buy only 2 percent of all EVs. Did anyone suggest an additional incentive rebate for black and brown buyers? Sort of an EV reparations program?

Then there is the charging problem. Most EV owners are white college educated homeowners with home charging stations. Only 44 percent of blacks own their homes. Those people living in apartments would have to have chargers in their apartment complex or have to charge at charging stations – if they can find one that works. Not surprisingly charging stations are located where white, college educated people frequent – and that is not in the ‘hood. Charging deserts exist in poor neighborhoods and not at toney malls. Of course, if there is a Pilot/Flying J handy, you can always go charge at an interstate exit and enjoy a meal at the Denny’s while you wait the hour or so it takes. 

BTW, what happened to the $7.5 billion to build 500,000 charging stations funded in the 2021 Infrastructure and Jobs Act? So far 37 have been built. Why isn’t this a scandal? How many were supposed to be in the ‘hood? But just remember what happened to payphones in poor neighborhoods before contemplating putting in a charging station.

But is buying an EV a rational decision or an emotional one? The comparable price studies show that after three years of ownership, EVs may actually be more costly than gas vehicles. They are more expensive to repair and have higher insurance costs. Some in the let-them-eat-cake groups said that poorer people could buy used EVs (watch out for replacement battery costs) or ride public transit. Is that why Gavin Newsom has spent over $70 billion on a bullet train to nowhere? Couldn’t he just have given poor Californians a grant to buy used EVs? I just love the idea of EV reparations.

One black California politician, Assemblyman Jim Cooper, opposed Newsom’s EV mandate. Cooper said that his constituents could not afford an EV. Cooper wrote an open letter to the state’s largest environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, who, he said, promote policies that “systematically drive racial economic inequities and fuel environmental racism.” Ironically, the CEO of the Sierra Club is a black man, ex-NAACP president Ben Jealous. Cooper points out that low and moderate income Californians are subsidizing wealthy EV owners. Where is the equity in that? He notes the strain on the power grid and the frequent brownouts saying that “Meanwhile, liberal elite policymakers sit, charging their electric cars (for which they received taxpayer rebates), straining the grid while working families lose their electricity and air conditioning during a horrendous heatwave.” Poor black and brown families subsidizing rich white elites? Where is the outrage?

So Trump is the liberator. He has rescued black and brown people from the inequities of the EV. Let the greenie weenies wail and let Gavin Newsom sue saying “We will sue to stop this illegal action by a President who is a wholly-owned subsidiary of big polluters.”  Wow. And this from a wholly-owned subsidiary of the environmental-industrial complex and the education-industrial complex. 

Some will argue that Trump’s actions are racist because black and brown people have higher incidences of respiratory diseases such as asthma – environmental racism. The argument is that those diseases would be lessened by the removal of internal combustible engines. This “environmental justice” crowd say that EVs are a vehicle for racial equity – provided black folk are forced to either buy them because they have no choice or ride public transportation. Hey, you may be walking but at least the air will be cleaner – we think. Most of us recognize this as sheer sophistry. Rather than being racist, Trump’s actions are actually liberating. Black and brown people are liberated from the yoke of EV tyranny and being condemned to EV purgatory. That is why June 12 is the real “Liberation Day” and Donald Trump is the liberator.

Random thoughts #63

I was asked “How does it feel to be 80?” Well I don’t feel a day over 79.

The Knox County republican party is having a sporting clays fundraiser. I wondered if it is called the “Dick Cheney memorial sporting clays”? No way I would be around a bunch of old geysers with shotguns.

A recent poll on immigration has the headline “New Polling Finds Strong Bipartisan Support for Trump’s Immigration Policies.” It reads “Democrat politicians who are doubling down on their open-borders agenda are wildly out of touch with the vast majority of Americans—including many Democrat voters.” Actually that is quite a leap. The democrats polled, just like the republicans, want illegals who are criminals deported. I, for one, want them put in jail because I fear that once deported they will try to sneak back across the border. However, the democrats think that “the enforcement has gone too far.” They do not favor the raiding of work sites and Home Depot day workers and deporting those who are not criminals – and yes I know that if they are illegal then they have broken the law and are hence “criminals.” The majority of the republicans also wish the administration tempered its actions to mainly concentrate on the criminals. However, 93 percent of the republicans support the administration in closing the border and deporting the criminals. Question: who are the seven percent that don’t?

The administration is gloating that the economists are wrong about the tariffs. They point to the numbers on the economy and the increase in the monies from the tariffs. However, isn’t it a bit soon to crow and declare victory? Let’s wait six months and see what happens. It is not surprising that businesses are trying to absorb as much of the additional tariff costs as they can in the short run while waiting to see if the tariffs will be permanent. That cannot last forever as smaller companies and suppliers start to go out of business and larger companies find their profits and stock prices falling.

Then there is the coming increase in prices. It may be a little at first. Case in point is the 17% tariff placed on Mexican tomatoes. Yes the US growers are ecstatic. You would be too if your competitors are being priced out of the market. But the question is what impact will this have on the American consumer? It may well be that fewer varieties of tomatoes and a price increase will not be enough to cause a tomato rebellion but recall that the Boston Tea Party was over a 5% levy on tea. Will there be a Mexican Tomato Party?

To the surprise of many, the administration has restored African AIDS relief from the now vanquished USAID funds. Many republicans including Don Bacon – who announced his retirement – in the House and Susan Collins in the Senate were strong supporters of restoring the cuts. USAID has treated 4.7 million, and South Africa Central Support has treated 1 million, and the worldwide total was more than 17.8 million. Strange but the LGBTQ bunch has not seen fit to praise the president. Maybe AIDS funding is only praiseworthy if it is done by democrats.

Georgetown, a Jesuit university, has received over $1 billion from Qatar since 2005. Cornell has gotten over $1.5 billion. In total over $8 billion has gone from Arab countries into the coffers of American universities including Harvard, Stanford, the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Texas. Also, another $4+ billion has gone unreported. I am certain that the increased antisemitism on college campuses is completely unrelated to all the largesse flowing from the Middle East. Right?

AIPAC has given over $100 million to mostly republican candidates in recent elections. We all know why. But one wonders why Jewish money isn’t being used to counter the Arab influence on college campuses. The Times of Israel reports that 12 Jewish billionaires donated $27 billion to philanthropies in 2022. Of course this includes George Soros, Michael Bloomberg and Mark Zuckerberg who are busy funding democrats. A casual observation is that most of the antisemitism at college is concentrated in the liberal arts. Typically, business schools and the sciences are where most of the Jewish professors reside and those departments have less antisemitism than say gender studies or sociology.

Speaker Johnson says that there are two more Big Beautiful Bills in the works. Would somebody tell him that it would be a great idea to emulate Ronald Reagan and start sending the states block grants instead of doling it out amongst the federal agencies piecemeal? Only a small percentage of the monies budgeted actually makes it to the people. Rather it is eaten up by the bureaucracy and funds the bureaucrats rather than the citizens. It seems that the purpose of the federal government is to feed itself. That continues with this administration as has been true with the administrations in the past.

Again, it is sad that the congress is fighting over a trivial $9.4 billion in rescissions. It does indeed conjure up images of Nero fiddling while Rome burns. BTW, that story is false since the violin was not invented until 1,500 years after Nero’s death. But the image persists.

MLB Draft, the All Star Game, Taiwan war games and Chinese Rope-a-Dope

Major League Baseball just held its draft. Does anybody – other than those picked, their families, and the teams – care? Name me the first pick – I dare you. That is because college (and high school) baseball is just a spring sport whose popularity in most places is secondary to spring football. Even though MLB is my favorite sport, I did not watch its draft. However, the University of Tennessee Vols had 8 players picked the first day. Eight!

I also don’t watch MLB’s all star game. Once it was a real game – remember Pete Rose slide into home and the collision with Ray Fosse? It has become a caricature of the game, like the NFL’s all star game whose Pro Bowl is now a flag football game. Why anyone would pay to watch a flag football game is beyond me. Speaking of paying to watch nonsense, a friend of mine offered me two tickets to the baseball all star game in Atlanta. The tickets were $900! Tickets at the dugout infield were $3,000! I think we have a new definition of insanity. BTW, the game ended in a tie! The MVP was the guy who won the home run “swing off.” Can you imagine Pete Rose’s reaction?

The Taiwan War Games and Chinese Rope-a-Dope

Troops from the US, Australia, Japan and a bunch of other countries are conducting war games in Australia, training to fight the Chinese if they invaded Taiwan. The three-week Talisman Sabre exercise involves 19 nations and more than 40,000 personnel. Wow. Well it gives the military something to do and lets the troops have fun playing Audie Murphy for a while. But seriously, do you think that China will really invade Taiwan? If they somehow make it the 100 miles across the Taiwan Strait, are there going to be 40,000 troops from 19 nations waiting to greet them?

Unlike Ukraine where the Russians could amass 50,000 troops and walk across the border, the Chinese just can’t walk across the Taiwan Strait. They would first likely send missiles and aircraft to conduct bombing raids. Surely, the Taiwanese air defenses could knock down most of the missiles and the planes. If the Chinese navy attacked, they would have to face air defenders, drones, submarines and naval forces. It would be very very costly. I once likened Taiwan’s defense to that of a porcupine – an animal that is small, slow and vulnerable, except for its quills. Most predators avoid porcupines. However, bobcats and coyotes are known to attack a porcupine’s face and try to flip them over, rendering them defenseless. China would have to find that soft underbelly or else it will rattle its sword, be bombastic, threaten but ultimately not attack the Taiwanese porcupine.

But China could be doing a rope-a-dope. While it is posturing toward Taiwan it could easily reunite the parts of Manchuria and all of Siberia that it lost to the Russians way back when. Here is what one historian writes “The modern borders between Russia and China were largely established through what Chinese historians have long termed the “unequal treaties” of the 19th century. The Treaty of Aigun (1858) and the Convention of Peking (1860) transferred over 600,000 square miles of territory from Qing China to Tsarist Russia, much of it in modern-day Siberia and the Russian Far East. These agreements, signed during a period of Chinese weakness and Western imperial expansion, have never sat comfortably within Chinese historical memory.”

So if the Chinese claim Taiwan as their home territory, then why don’t they claim Northern Manchuria and all of Siberia as Chinese homelands? Putin invaded Ukraine claiming to recover Russian territory didn’t he? Well the Chinese could walk into Siberia and meet minimal Russian resistance. Russia is preoccupied with Ukraine where it has been exposed as a paper tiger. They do not have the resources, the military might or the will to counter a Chinese invasion. The vast expanse of Siberia stands as the world’s greatest repository of untapped resources, a treasure trove of strategic minerals, fossil fuels, timber and fresh water. What riches are there in Taiwan? Chip factories? Get serious. If the Chinese invaded Taiwan, the chip making expertise will vanish overnight and appear in the EU, Canada and the US.

Invading Taiwan would be foolhardy. Siberia is there for the taking. Look for China to take it. John Lonergan makes a compelling argument in “China will invade Siberia, not Taiwan” and goes as far as suggesting that the Chinese already have plans to do so. https://thehill.com/opinion/international/5379824-china-wants-to-invade-siberia-not-taiwan/

He notes that Hitler was stopped by the 22 mile English Channel and that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would likely fail and come at a steep cost of over 10,000 soldiers, 155 aircraft,138 major ships and over a trillion dollars. Did I hear someone say “porcupine”?

The costs of invading Siberia would not nearly be as steep. China has already changed the names of its maps of six cities, including Vladivostok (Haishenwai) and Khabarovsk (Boli), one island and one mountain from the Russian names back to the original Chinese ones. I wonder if Trump will have the US maps change the names or will he be afraid of infuriating Putin? Do Chinese maps now say “Gulf of America”? The only defense that Russia has would be a nuclear threat- which China would counter. Would this be enough to deter the Chinese? I seriously doubt it.

If interested, I highly recommend reading 

https://harmoniousdiscourse.substack.com/p/the-dragons-northern-gambit-china

Who was that masked man?

Remember when Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass said that they had the situation in Los Angeles under control and no national guard or marines were needed to restore order? Thousands were clashing over ICE raids and LA mayor Karen Bass admonished President Trump for federalizing the state’s National Guard. Newsom sued Trump and said “I have formally requested the Trump Administration rescind their unlawful deployment of troops in Los Angeles County and return them to my command. We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved.”

Well Newsom has requested federal disaster relief of the over $1 billion in damages caused during the (mostly peaceful) Ice riots. I think the word is “hutzpah.” 

Speaking of hutzpah, what about the left criticizing ICE officers for wearing masks? I don’t recall them criticizing all the pro-Hamas folk protesting Israel in all the demonstrations on college campuses. Massachusetts (where else) has introduced legislation prohibiting ICE from wearing masks while conducting enforcement actions. Democrat senators Booker, Padilla and Slotkin introduced legislation –  which has zero chance of passage – that also would prohibit ICE from wearing face masks during most enforcement operations. Slotkin said “In recent months, we have seen police, wearing hoodies and masks, make arrests that look more like kidnappings in an authoritarian country.” 

Trump retorted “They wouldn’t be saying that if they didn’t hate our country, and they obviously do. These officers are doing a tremendous job. They’re great patriots. If you expose them because of statements like have been made by Democrat and others on the left, usually mostly, I think, probably exclusively, you put them in great danger, tremendous danger.” The acting Ice director said “I’m not going to let my officers and agents go out there and put their lives on the line, family on the line because people don’t like what immigration enforcement is.” 

While states on the left are seeking to unmask ICE, states like North Carolina, Ohio, Florida and Texas are unmaking the Israel protestors. The ACLU whined saying “Arcane laws banning people from wearing masks in public are now being used to target people who wear face coverings while peacefully protesting Israel’s war in Gaza.” One leftist blog said “It means that police will have another excuse to target Black and Brown people, poor people and activists.” (You mean they now capitalize “Brown” now too?) As usual, those on the left do not see the double standard and the hypocrisy of defending mask wearing by mostly peaceful protestors who are breaking the law and not by ICE agents who are enforcing it.

BTW, when I am on my deer hunts near Eagle Pass, TX – once the epicenter of the border crisis – I noticed that most of the border agents were Hispanic. That was also true with the ICE agents I encountered. Seems like over 50 percent of the border patrol and 30 percent of ICE agents are Hispanic. I wonder about the racial/ethnic composition of the protestors. I see very few black faces. Aren’t there illegal black Hispanics – or are all of them playing baseball? I do see Mexican (and Palestinian) flags. Los Angeles is almost 50 percent Latino so one would expect the anti-ICE crowd to be mostly Hispanic. However, in New York, the protestors are mostly white. I would presume that if Latinos are protesting they are ones that are here legally. It would be seriously stupid for an illegal to be protesting, get arrested and get deported.

More evidence that Trump hates Canada

If there is one thing that President Trump has done in his tariff rampage, it is that he has made Canada blink. Remember when Ontario said that it would retaliate against the tariffs by imposing tariffs on energy that they exported to the US? Trump immediately said that he would double the already existing punitive tariffs on Canadian goods and Ontario backed down. Then Trump abruptly canceled negotiations over the tariffs when the Canadians insisted that they were going to keep their tax on digital services. Trump promised even bigger tariffs and the Canadians again said “Uncle (Sam?)”. Trump said “Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately! We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven day period.” Here again Trump is saying that the other country will pay the tariff which is false.

What is a bit weird is that Trump let the Brits keep their digital services tax in their negotiations. But then again Trump hates Canada and must like the Brits since British cars are subject to smaller tariffs than American cars built in Canada and Mexico. Despite all their assertions the Canadians blinked and rescinded the tax. What galls the Canadians was that this was done on July 1, Canada day. One Canadian wrote “It’s hard to celebrate Canada Day when it feels like a foreign president just rewrote our tax code from his golf cart.”

Canada’s digital services tax would be a tax on the revenues on Big Tech companies that do not have a physical location in the country. The tax was to be 3 percent of revenues above $20 million Canadian retroactive to 2022. But digital taxes are nothing new. Nineteen countries already have such a tax, yet Trump has – to my knowledge – only raised the issue in negotiations with Turkey. Countries contend that if the companies had a physical presence they would be subject to that country’s taxes. Internationals generally pay taxes where production occurs or where the sales occur. But with no physical presence, these companies do not pay taxes on their digital services revenues. I guess there could be some international agreement regarding these taxes but it is doubtful that the US would be on board, given that the majority of the companies affected are US firms. The US’ opposition is that the tax would result in double taxation. One wonder why the issue cannot be resolved by a tax credit for foreign taxes paid? But the hangup seems to be that the digital services tax is taxing revenues rather than income.

Not surprisingly the Big Tech firms have lobbied the administration vigorously to oppose the tax and Trump has complied. Yet one can also understand the frustration of the governments who see revenues earned in their country by corporations that are not taxed. But Trump’s opposition is not unique. Obama and Biden also opposed digital services taxes but only Trump has used the economic heft of the United States to force a country to not implement the tax. What remains to be seen is if Trump will insist that the other countries rescind their digital services tax in their negotiations over the tariffs. If he doesn’t it will be further evidence of his hatred toward Canada.

Suppose I was nominated to be Chairman of the Fed

Not only would I not be nominated (I am too old and too independent), the pay is lousy ($250,000), and though I loved living in DC but not at this point in my life. What would I do with my bass boat? My dog – I have a German Shorthaired Pointer and unlike Robert Parker’s Spenser’s GSP Belle, I would not keep mine in the city. My fifth wheel? My vehicles and most importantly my guns? So if nominated I would not serve – unless I could do it virtually from Knoxville.

Far be it for me to give Donald Trump advice but here goes. Much is being written on who he going to choose to replace Powell as chairman of the Fed. The media seems to think it will be either Kevin Warsh or Kevin Hassett, chair of the National Economic Council. I have written why I think that Warsh will not be chosen because he is not a yes man. He previously served on the Board of Governors and is committed to Fed independence. I like him in that he wants the Fed to return to its pre-Bernanke roots emphasizing monetary aggregates rather than interest rates. He would then run counter to Trump’s obsession with lowering interest rates. Since he would be a great choice, I doubt if Trump will nominate him.

Then there is Kevin Hassett of the National Economic Council. Hassett has demonstrated “flexibility” of thought. At first he was a defender of Jay Powell and Fed independence but lately has flipped to the dark side, joining Trump in criticizing Powell. Hassett has a PhD in economics from Penn and was once on the faculty of Columbia. He has also been a staff economist at the Fed. However, this does not make him an expert on monetary economics. Rather his interests were in tax policy.

Trump won’t be able to fire Powell and must wait until his term as chairman ends on May 15, 2026. But he doesn’t have to wait that long to put Powell’s successor in place. Board member Adriana Kugler’s term ends January 1, 2026. Trump could, and should, nominate whoever he wants as chairman to fill Kugler’s expired term. Then when Powell leaves as chairman, he can then nominate that person as chairman. Mind you, whoever is nominated will have a bruising confirmation hearing rivaling that of a Supreme Court nominee. Warsh will be the more independent choice while Hassett will be viewed as a political hack.

Regardless, I would be surprised that whoever is nominated (and it likely will not be either of these) will not chart their own course once in office to the dismay of the president. Fed chairmen take Fed independence seriously. I once served on a committee with the legendary Paul Volcker. One does not get more independent than that but even he relied on the work of the staff economists at the Fed.

But yes there is serious change that needs to be in the Fed’s William McChesney Martin Building and in the reserve bank districts. Here is what I would do. First, I would bring in new monetary economists to analyze and rebuild the fed models emphasizing monetary aggregates rather than interest rates. Second, I would encourage the president to nominate for future board positions, economists of stature whose expertise was in the critical areas that the fed studies, such as international economics. Third, I would place strong monetarists at the reserve banks but have on their staffs deregulatory minded people. Fourth, I would divide the Fed into two sections, one concerned solely with monetary policy and the second that would concentrate on regulation and the examination of the banks. I would have two separate support staffs to assist them. Although administrators love to increase their power, I would recommend that the regulatory body be spun off into a different agency or merged with the Comptroller of the Currency. Fifth, I would recommend that the congress purge the agency of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It has no place within the Fed. Sixth, I would recommend that the Fed chair be ex officio member of the president’s cabinet. Seventh, I would recommend that the secretary of the Treasury be ex officio on the Open Market Committee. That way the administration would have a voice but not a vote at the Fed and the Fed would have a voice on the president’s cabinet. I know some purists would argue that this would infringe on the Fed’s independence. If you disagree I am open to suggestions.