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Musk should take on social security

If I say that Elon Musk is the smartest, boldest, most creative entrepreneur in the world, I don’t think I will get pushback. President Donald Trump’s move to bring him to Washington and put him at the top of a new Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, to do the seemingly impossible — to streamline a vastly outsized government spending behemoth — injects hope that yes, maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel. Musk, the world’s richest man, is not beholden to anyone, and so there is little danger of him getting bogged down and imprisoned in the Washington culture ...

Government concealing risks

Federal investigators have recovered the black boxes from the passenger jet that crashed into the Potomac River last week. These boxes — actually orange in color to improve the likelihood they can be found in wreckage — will help get to the truth behind the worst U.S. aviation disaster since 2001. But federal officials are hiding the truth about where the next air disaster is likely to occur. This government coverup should outrage the traveling public. Less than two months ago, the Senate held a hearing on “aging” air traffic control systems. The hearing, explained Sen. Tammy ...

The markets won’t lie about tariffs

Thank God for the stock market. The market is one of the only things Donald Trump can be expected to listen to — likely more than polls and certainly more than his advisers — even when he doesn’t want to hear what it’s saying. During his first term, Trump routinely took credit for every new market high, noting at one point that “the reason our stock market is so successful is because of me.” When the market did well under President Biden, Trump claimed that it was because of the expectation that he would win the next election. It’s all nonsense, but he believes it, ...

The changing media landscape

When White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced last week that the briefing room is now open to reporters for “new media,” including podcasters and websites, she was acknowledging the power and reach of these outlets, which was demonstrated in the last election when President Trump made himself available to outlets that were ignored by the Kamala Harris campaign. The “legacy media” are in decline and the new media are surging. Part of this has to do with evaporating trust in what many regard as biased coverage by The New York Times - from which broadcast news ...

Trade war: Pain starts with shame

Never mind how Donald Trump’s threatened trade war ultimately pans out. Though a 25% border tax would hurt the economies of Canada and Mexico more, Americans would also feel the ill-effects. But America is already suffering. Start with the shame of menacing and sliming our good neighbors with lies. Even if it’s part of a twisted game of negotiation — Trump has already put off the war with Mexico and Canada by a month — the economic damage is lasting. (Trump’s game is to jump on some small concession to declare victory.) Meanwhile, Made-in-Trump’s-USA is becoming a toxic ...

The bullies and the bros take over

It’s an excellent time for bullies and bros in Donald Trump’s Washington, where the president wasted no time confirming that if he has his way — namely, whatever he wants — it’s going to be all thuggery all the time. There’s a fresh flood of new examples each day. They’re intended to overwhelm us, and it’s working. Here’s one: Trump gleefully stripped longtime public servants of the security protection they’ve needed precisely because they’re under serious threats from Trump loyalists who, taking their cue from Trump himself, threaten revenge because those ...