The current attempt to turn our society on its head by establishing equity as the standard for advancement instead of excellence has become quite apparent. The failures are right in front of us. Two shining examples that glare at us daily are visible members of our federal government. The first is our transportation secretary. We all knew he had no qualifications to run this department. His only notable experience is being mayor of a city whose population is less than double the number of transportation department employees (103,353 residents versus 55,000 employees). How could this not be seen as a train wreck (no pun intended) waiting to happen? This is a person who wants to be taken seriously, yet regularly behaves in a non-serious manner. Just the fact that he was caught being driven to work and then getting off at a certain point and riding his bike (notably with a helmet) the remainder of the way tells you how his mind works. Then there was the incident of him disappearing for two months. He is not the only cabinet member to disappear for an extended period as Xavier Becerra, Health and Human Services Secretary, has been known to disappear for… Read More

The economic illiteracy of Americans — including most who have taken one or more college Economics classes — can be breathtaking. But instead of always complaining about this malady, I decided that with this article, I’d here offer a one-lesson business accounting course that SHOULD be taught in high school (if not at home).

Herewith, a cram course on the fundamental math of a retail business — specifically a fast-food establishment. And why almostallsuch culinary establishments will be cutting back their hours of operation — making that late-night fast-food eatery largely a thing of the past.

Every business has two kinds of costs:

1. Fixed Costs— These are costs that don’t change much from month to month. At the top of the list of fixed costs is usually property costs — mortgage (or rent), taxes, insurance. Add to that franchise fees, accounting cost, some insurance costs, etc.

2. Variable Costs— These costs primarily consist of the cost of goods sold, utilities, franchise percentage payments and… Read More

Whenever one blinks these days, there is a new story about which people get hysterical. Tennessee has always been best known for Nashville country music and Memphis barbeque. But it has become focused currently on two cultural events that are related, but in their own way completely separate. You certainly are familiar with the fact a transgender individual entered a Christian day school and killed six people – three older adults and three young children. If you read the “wrong” news service, there is no mention the shooter was a transgender. Or you might read seven people were killed due to the fact that the Nashville police did their job and killed the shooter –possibly saving many lives. That is not the topic of this column. It is another incident. A gun control proposal was put forth in the Tennessee State Legislature. Everyone I know is in favor of gun control. It is just the Left wants to control guns for law abiding citizens. They cite countries that have confiscated guns from their citizens, and you pretty much saw what happened during the pandemic where these countries ran roughshod over people’s rights in ways Americans could not… Read More

We pretty much all agree that the government needs some funding to operate essential functions. We have agreed on fees for services, property taxes and income taxes. We may not agree on the amount of tax, but we generally accept that taxes can be levied. That does not seem good enough for those interested in an ever-expanding government. Thus, they are searching for new means and they are looking to the final frontier – tax the assets people have accumulated over their lifetime – a wealth tax. As we all know, the federal expenditures have expanded astronomically in recent years. In 2010 the expenditures were $3.55 trillion. President Biden’s proposed budget beginning October 2023 is $6.9 trillion. Here are some fun facts at the state level. In 2023, California is spending twice as much per resident (in today’s dollars) as the government did in 2010. Florida and New York currently have very similar population levels, yet New York state spends twice as much as the Florida state government. The issue recently erupted as eight states joined in a pact to establish a wealth tax. The eight states – New York, California, Washington,… Read More

By now I am confident that you have read about or seen the recent and infamous episode at Stanford Law School. I refer to Judge Kyle Duncan, of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, being verbally attacked by student protesters during a presentation and then dressed down by an assistant dean of DEI. The worst parts of this matter have not even been addressed and some cultural crimes were committed. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) ran a column by the judge explaining his position on what occurred. Being a real newspaper, the WSJ also ran an op-ed piece by the assistant dean, Tirien Steinbach. The copy is here https://www.wsj.com/articles/diversity-and-free-speech-can-coexist-at-stanford-steinbach-duncan-law-school-protest-dei-27103829. Ms. Steinbach (if I may call her “Ms.”) shows her bias quite clearly early in the piece. She states, “student groups that vehemently opposed Judge Duncan showed up to protest.” That is not what they showed up to do. They showed up to disrupt the Judge’s presentation, thus… Read More

You may remember that this past summer the Los Angeles City Council accepted an ordinance regarding the operation and development of hotels in the city of Los Angeles. For the time being, it has been put aside as the vote will not be until March 2024. This ordinance could not be more destructive to the hotel business in Los Angeles than if you simply blew up the buildings. First, I must comment on the press coverage of this. It is abysmal. It is clear no reporter who wrote about this issue read the ordinance. They barely touched on the issues that are going to be voted on by residents who will never understand what is being voted on. The press in Los Angeles and Sacramento are so dismal it is no wonder this state functions as it does. For some reason unknown to me a union, Unite Here Local 11, went out and collected the signatures to get this on the ballot. Yes, the City Council held a vote, but it was just perfunctory as they really had no say on this issue – it had to go on the ballot. In discussion with one member of the Council I suggested they could have abstained to show disdain for the policies in the ordinance, but only a couple might have… Read More

This topic somehow has become one of the most important subjects in America. It is characterized by some as “the civil rights fight of our time.” A recent column by one of the “sterling” columnists at the New York Times finally made me address this issue. Jamelle Bouie belongs to the chorus of writers at the New York Times and Washington Post who advocate jumping on the bandwagon of any current trend. While Mr. Bouie’s opinions on this matter might very well be heartfelt, one might also think at least one of these agenda items to radically change our lives would face some resistance. Bouie’s column is entitled, “There is No Dignity in This Kind of America.” It reveals where he is heading from the start. One must wonder where Mr. Bouie was on this issue before June 26, 2015, when Gays were granted the right to marry by the U.S. Supreme Court. The transgender issue was nowhere on the agenda and since then has become transcendental. Someone involved in the Gay community informed me that every relevant organization turned immediately to… Read More

The title is a “turn of phrase” from when the Greeks provided the Trojans with the gift of a giant wooden horse. Similarly, whenever a government — in this case Biden’s government – appears to give private industry money for a directed purpose, there are a laundry list of caveats. In this case we are referring to the $280 billion Chips Act. The Act was passed with bipartisan support and much fanfare. The idea behind the Act is to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to this country’s mainland. Semiconductors are essential to our lives as they are used in a multitude of devices. They are also essential to our defense industry. It was deemed high time that we took control of this essential product even though 90 percent of our chips come from Taiwan, a very friendly country. American companies design many of these chips so why should we not manufacture them? In theory, we just need to supply the capital to companies to build the chips in America. Right? Reality set in once the bill was passed. Six months after signing the legislation, the Biden Administration rolled out a litany of requirements for any company receiving the funding from $50… Read More