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

Holocaust deniers, anti-Semites and other crackpots have received endorsements from the state GOP because of a flaw in party rules which awarded the party’s backing without a vote.

California Republicans gathering this weekend will elect the party’s leadership for the 2023 – 2024 election cycle. With skyrocketing crime, homelessness and open air drug markets destroying Californians’ quality of life, the next election presents Republicans with great opportunities.

To offer voters a clear and better alternative to California’s Ruling Class, we must clearly define what our party does – and does not – represent.

In recent years our party has stepped on its own message repeatedly as a result of a serious flaw in party rules which has produced automatic state GOP endorsements for anti-Semites and other deeply problematic individuals who have chosen to use the party to draw attention for their ideas by running as Republican candidates in unwinnable districts.

This is not a small problem.

In 2018,… Read More

Our leaders have failed at a national balanced budget. They do not even begin to address whether we are anywhere near the possibility of a balanced budget. Charges are flying back and forth about whether anyone wants to cut Social Security and/or Medicare as some demagogue the issue. It is time to take a simple “helicopter” view at what is actually happening. In 2022, our federal government spent $6.48 trillion. The breakdown: 1. Social Security — $1.22 trillion, comprised of three parts: Payments to seniors $1.03 trillion, $144.7 billion for disability; $48.4 billion – other. 2. Defense – $1.03 trillion, composed of $759.8 billion for defense and $271 billion for veterans. 3. Medicare $756.1 billion. 4. Transfers to states – $1.21 trillion. 5. Transfers payments – $619.3 billion. Only $36.3 billion of that is paid for by the recipients as those are payments related to unemployment insurance. 6. Interest payments – $483.5 billion. The government received $5.03 trillion in revenue: 1. Payroll Taxes – $1.50 trillion comprised principally of $1.09 trillion Social Security and $344 billion for… Read More

The poor and low-income folks of America receive many government subsidies. But here’s one subsidy that few people are aware of.

Social Security retirement checks are HEAVILY subsidized for low earners. Moreover, for those whose earned income (adjusted for inflation) averages above about $126,000 (called “AIME”), they get ZERO money back on their 6.2% SS payments (12.4% for the self-employed) on that “excess” income confiscation.

Essentially, those annually earning more than $126,000 up to $160,200 in 2023 will find that 100% of their SS payments (6.2% each, paid by both employer and employee) above $126,000 are to help subsidize the low wage earners who pay VERY little for their benefits. The high-income payers will get not one dime extra for these higher payments. This 2:40 minute videois a good summary of the SS program, though the numbers are not up to date. There are three tiers of payouts, based on one’s annual earnings (though the specific figures in the video are… Read More

You, like I, certainly are stunned that there would be a day in the United States where people are talking about banning certain forms of speech and branding it as “hate speech.” As someone who is a free speech absolutist, I find the entire matter repulsive. I applaud that the opportunity to offend me by speech exists. It is an essential American freedom. First, let’s define a “free speech absolutist.” One can’t encourage violence against a group or a person. One can’t yell “fire” in a crowded place when there is no emergency. Other than that, Americans are free to speak as they wish. The problem with hate speech is it is in the eye of the beholder. For example, almost any time Elizabeth Warren or our current White House press secretary says something, I want what they are saying banned. What is said by the head of the NEA or AFT (teachers’ unions) almost universally is hate speech to me and is likewise racist. Any of the people whining and saying there is hate speech that needs restricting is a perfect example of people who actually need to be stifled. It is a good bet they can’t possibly think of anything they say qualifies… Read More

Americans are so detached from the products we buy in a grocery store we have little clue why they cost what they do. We recently toured a cheese manufacturing plant outside of Venice, Italy. We saw the trucks roll up to the factory with the milk that is used to make 100 million pounds of cheese annually. Then we saw what it took to make the fifty different kinds of cheese and the facilities where the cheese had to be stored to be aged for nine months or more before being put on a truck. A special truck delivers the finished product to an airplane that ships it to the United States where it is then shipped around the country to be delivered to your grocery store. There are even more costs added to the price of the cheese and that is what this column is about. One of the biggest elements for product costs in America is lawsuits. We have a complex legal system that is often abused by people for their own financial purposes. That causes the many forms of insurance a company pays, including liability and worker’s compensation, to soar thus driving up the cost of goods for us all. A recent study by the Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform… Read More

Being Anti-Semitic seems to be en vogue these days, not that it every really went out of style. Even while our governments were focusing on anti-Asian or anti-Muslim or anti-black hate crimes, the Jews were still at the top of the hate crime statistics. The question is: who is the biggest threat to the Jews in America – the Left or the Right? It is important to lay down some ground rules for this. No matter the source, Anti-Semitism is intolerable. As a reader, you probably know my history on this subject and know I do not accept hatred of Jews from any source. I have written on this subject many times over the forty years of my columns. Our federal government and an array of left of center groups want you to believe the problem comes from White Supremacy on the right. That is despite the recent attempt by Democrats to defend a virulent anti-Semite from being removed from a Congressional committee she should never have been on. There are several problems with this theory. The groups they focus on are made out to have a vast network, but not if you read the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) study on the issue from 2015. They state that the… Read More

Our society has created a class of people with too much time on their hands. That has caused such recent sensations as the USC School of Social Work determining the word ‘field’ should be banned from the lexicon because of “possible racist connotations.” Another decision that affects society is legislatures determining how pay should be handled by private entities because of some perceived potential inequity. The issue at hand is new laws requiring inclusion of the salary range for any open positions. Nothing irritates some people, especially me, more than having state legislators tell people how to run their businesses. It is particularly galling since few have ever worked in private industry and fewer have run a business with all the accompanying challenges. California’s legislators are not the first to wade in on this particular subject. Colorado adopted a law in 2019. As these matters go, it spread like a swarm of locusts even before there is time to analyze the effects of the new decree. New York City, which envisions itself a state as California envisions itself a country, was next to step into this mire. California had to follow… Read More