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Fed up with crime and mayhem

A construction worker, a fisherman and a woman walking by the United Nations were knifed to death in Manhattan in separate, random attacks on Monday by a blood-covered lunatic with a long rap sheet who should not have been loose on the streets. Three lives lost. Three more reasons to rid this city of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Pundits say Bragg — the soft-on crime lefty largely responsible for the mayhem on New York City’s streets — will likely coast to reelection next year. That would disgrace New York City. But it’s not a fait accompli. True, no Democrat ...

Trump’s ‘First Buddy’ in deep trouble

The two finalists to become Trump’s Treasury Secretary — the person will have a major hand in cutting taxes for the wealthy and raising tariffs so everyone pays more — are Howard Lutnick, who’s CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and Trump’s co-transition chair, and Steven Bessent, the founder of the investment firm Key Square Capital Management. Lutnick had been in the lead but a few days ago, according to the The Wall Street Journal, he heard from Trump’s allies that he might not get the nod. So Lutnick turned for help to Elon Musk, who now calls himself Trump’s “First ...

Republican party’s gigantic opportunity

Donald Trump won the election. The House and Senate are in Republican hands. That means the GOP now owns the debt and its consequences. This responsibility, while too much for past politicians, presents the opportunity of a lifetime: namely, to be the ones who put the government back on fiscal track and, among other things, save entitlement programs from long-term disaster. As a reminder, our debt is huge. It’s the size of the annual economy and is set to reach at least 166% of GDP in 30 years. Interest rates are high and have driven interest payments on that debt to levels not seen ...

‘It’s every man for himself’

It takes a cracked mindset to name a cracked pot with no scientific training to head the agency that oversees 11 agencies tasked with protecting Americans’ health. They include the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, Medicare and Medicaid. Donald Trump’s pick of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head Health and Human Services suggests utter lack of concern for the well-being of everyday Americans. “Bobby,” as Trump affectionately calls him, could threaten cutting-edge research into cancer cures, for heaven’s sake. Trump is clearly enjoying his latest ...

Trimming obese government

Fifty years ago when Ron Paul (father of Sen. Rand Paul) was running for Congress from Texas, a billboard featured an obese Uncle Sam with the caption “let’s put big government on a diet.” Since then, the federal government has grown even more obese. To seriously address the problem, President-elect Trump has designated Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The two will be up against a bureaucracy that has a history of protecting itself from reformers. As Ronald Reagan said, “No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. ...

There are no permanent defeats

In 1994, Republicans won a sweeping victory that cost Democrats control of the House and Senate for the first time in 40 years. Republicans took an eye-popping 54 seats, leading many to conclude that this was a permanent political realignment. Two years later, Bill Clinton won reelection with 379 electoral college votes to Bob Dole’s 159. A loss, however painful, is not the end of the world. Every election result is provisional. There are multiple examples in recent memory of the American electorate delivering victories to a party and then swiftly reversing course. Following George ...