Breaking News

Uncategorized

Trump serves revenge, dares Senate to defy

“Julius Caesar did not seize power; the Roman Senate ceded power to Caesar.” — Sen. Robert C. Byrd Let that be a lesson to us from the West Virginian’s grave. Donald Trump promised to be a dictator on day one. Yet we missed his meaning: the first day after the election. Right away, we felt the president-elect’s revenge, blowing in on the gales of November. The United States Senate stands in front of those winds, testing the limits of its own power. History rhymes again. Our Constitution spells it out that the Senate has the right (and duty) to approve the president’s ...

Our Social Security system is broke

I pull the following directly from the summary of the 2024 annual reports of the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees: “The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund (that is, Social Security) will be able to pay 100 percent of total scheduled benefits until 2033, unchanged from last year’s report. At that time, the fund’s reserves will become depleted and continuing program income will be sufficient to pay 79 percent of scheduled benefits.” Our Social Security system is broke. Now if you own stock in a company, and you read a report that the prospects ...

Dear Democrats, it’s going to be OK

It is going to be OK. It really will. You’ll have the midterms in two years. There’ll be another presidential election in four years. Those of you reading this insisting there will be no more elections are no better than the idiots on my side who think 2020 was stolen and that if Kamala Harris had won, there would be no more elections. In 2004, you guys were pretty stunned by George W. Bush’s reelection. Within two years, you had Congress. In two more years, you had everything. And, again, many of you believed after 2004 that it was the end of all things. It was not. Now, ...

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 ...