Radio America Online News Bureau

Economy

Great First Quarter Growth, The Anita Hill Delusion, Libs Behaving Badly

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David French of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America celebrate stronger than expected economic growth of 3.2 percent in the first quarter of 2019.  They also pour cold water on the absurd notions that Anita Hill was treated unfairly by the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1991 and that Clarence Thomas is somehow assumed guilty of doing what she accused him of doing.  And they react to a judge in Massachusetts and the mayor of Baltimore finding themselves in heaps of legal trouble.

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Tough Love Boosts NATO, Jobs Bounce Back, Manchin Eyes the Exits

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are happy to see Vice President Pence laud our NATO partners for contributing more to the common defense and building greater cohesion while also calling out Turkey for its troubling embrace of Russia and a more Islamist outlook on the world.  They also welcome the March jobs report, which shows greater gains than expected and is a major improvement from February.  And they discuss West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin openly longing to run for governor in 2020.

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‘The Manufacturing Sector Has Really Blossomed’

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December manufacturing growth nearly quadrupled expectations as the sector enjoys a much-need revitalization, but what driving the growth and why might it start shrinking.

Experts predicted manufacturing to grow 0.3 percent in December.  Instead, it rose 1.1 percent.  Manufacturing growth stood at 2.3 percent in the fourth quarter and followed 3.7 percent growth in the third quarter.

“The manufacturing sector has just blossomed over the last year,” said Vance Ginn, chief economist at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

According to Ginn, the catalyst for the resurgence is the tax reform passed in 2017.

“The cost to these manufacturing companies were often too high.  The Trump tax cuts lowered the corporate income tax rate from 35 percent – the highest in the developed world – down to 21 percent and makes us more competitive, along with immediate expensing of depreciation.

“Those sort of things allow for a lowering of costs for manufacturing companies and what do they do?  They start putting more money back into their business,” said Ginn.

But Ginn notes a couple of important twists.  First, he points out that many these manufacturing jobs are vastly different than the ones in previous generations.  He also says the jobs are not returning to the same parts of the country because businesses want a better tax deal and less regulation.

“The institutional framework you have for your economy – if it has too high of taxes, too many regulations, too many union rules and regulations associated with it – that’s going to force people out.  It’s going to make a slower economy and a slower manufacturing sector.

“If you get rid of those, you see what can happen.  Manufacturing is coming back,” said Ginn, noting that jobs once found in the industrial Midwest are now landing in less regulated places like Texas and Tennessee.

Listen to the full podcast as Ginn explains why the manufacturing sector might weaken in the coming months and what the reason could be.

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Virginia GOP vs. Dem Gov. in Tax Debate

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Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is excited because the recent federal tax reforms mean an extra $1.2 billion is headed to the commonwealth’s coffers, but Republicans say the apparent windfall is nothing more than a de facto tax increase that must be addressed.

At issue is the federal law reducing deductions taxpayers can take on state and local taxes.  Critics of the law frequently pointed to high-tax states like New York, California, and New Jersey.  It will also impact Virginia.

And while Northam is already drafting plans to use the extra revenue for higher teacher salaries and assist low-income families, Republicans say the responsible thing is to reform the state tax code and ease the burden on taxpayers.

GOP Delegate Nick Freitas says the $1.2 billion is not just some serendipitous discovery.

“If the governor gets what he wants, this is definitely a situation where Virginia taxpayers will be on the hook,” said Freitas.  “Gov. Northam is trying to make this into a situation where he has this sudden windfall, and that’s just really not the case.”

And who exactly will be paying higher taxes because of the change regarding state tax deductions?

“Your average home, where maybe you have someone in law enforcement or maybe you have someone in academia or a teacher, when you have a dual income like that a lot of those people fit neatly in those income brackets that would experience a tax increase as a result,” said Freitas.

While Northam describes the the money he would like to give back to low-income Virginians as tax relief, Freitas says it’s nothing more than redistribution and that creates a toxic atmosphere.

“When you punish people for producing, when you punish people for their success, you’re disincentivizing success.  (Late British Prime Minister) Margaret Thatcher said it best: ‘Sooner or later, you run out of other people’s money.'” said Freitas.

“No politician has any idea of the various sacrifices that people make to get a business to a point where it’s finally turning a profit.  The politicians just show up with their hand out and then they convince other people that are maybe experiencing some difficult times that (if you) elect them, they’ll take from this person and give it to you.

“That just creates a society of greed and a society of envy.  That’s not what we want.  We want an aspirational society.  We want an opportunity-driven society,” said Freitas.

The Virginia legislature returns Jan. 9.  Freitas says the slim Republican majorities are planning to fix the tax code so Virginia families do not get socked by the changes in federal law.

“The Republican Caucus and our leadership have all been very adamant that we want to see a conformity bill that does not involve a tax increase of any kind,” said Freitas.

Del. Freitas would like to see sweeping tax reform in Virginia that reduces rates for everyone while also ending many tax credits and exemptions.

“Let’s not make our tax code a contest over whoever has the best lobbyist wins,” said Freitas.

Listen to the full interview to hear what Freitas sees as a much better way to help the poor than to redistribute money from wealthier people and what he sees as another major debate impacting the Virginia economy as Republicans and Democrats gear up for midterm elections in the Old Dominion in November.

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China’s Moon Shot Part of Major Military Ambitions

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While reporters and pundit made countless Pink Floyd references after China’s Change’e 4 probe landed on the far side of the moon Thursday, a leading expert on China says this achievement is part of a very ambitious military buildup that represents the greatest threat to U.S. national security.

“China is the number one threat, the number two threat, the number three threat,” said China expert Gordon Chang, author of “The Coming Collapse of China.”

Chang says China wants to do a lot more than just go to the moon.

“This is important.  China has ambitions to mine minerals and the rest of it, but they’re also going to use the moon for military purposes,” said Chang.  “Remember the Chinese space program is not civilian.  It’s all military, dominated by flag officers.  Everything they do has a military implication.”

One area of concern is the security of U.S. satellites.  Right now, the satellites in high earth orbit can be tapped into by our rivals, but that could change it China can take action from the moon.

Chang is disheartened that the U.S. is pulling back from space by grounding our shuttles, relying on other nations to get our astronauts to space, and scrapping plans to return to the moon and eventually get to Mars.

He is hopeful that President Trump’s creation of a Space Force will reignite the push to be the dominant player away from the earth as well.

“Space is absolutely critical for success on the battlefield and we’re going to have to be able to dominate space,” he said.

Listen to the full podcast to hear Chang further explain why he believes China is far and away the greatest threat to national security and why China has some serious vulnerabilities that the U.S. may be able to exploit.

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Martini Awards Part 5: Most Overreported Story, Most Underreported Story, Best Story of 2018

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America announce three more prestigious year-end awards.  Today they look at the stories the mainstream media covered far too much, the ones they conveniently ignored because they didn’t fit their narrative, and what they saw as the best stories of 2018.

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Stephen Moore: ‘The Tax Reform Has Been Spectacular’

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The tax reform legislation has our economy booming and the boom will keep rolling unless the Federal Reserve kneecaps it by continuing to raise interest rates, according to informal Trump economic adviser Stephen Moore.

Moore is a Heritage Foundation and FreedomWorks scholar and is also co-author of “Trumponomics: Inside the America First Plan to Revive Our Economy.”

He says the 2017 tax reform bill is doing wonders for our economy.

“The tax reform has been a spectacular success, with an amazing amount of money coming into the United States and factories being built.  We’re in the biggest construction and manufacturing boom in 50 years in this country right now.

“You see we have the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years.  Wages are rising.  It’s hard to point to any single thing that hasn’t worked with the tax cut,” said Moore.

He says lowering tax cuts for corporations and small businesses as well as individuals was more about generating job creation than balancing the budget but he says the Congressional Budget Office is already estimating greater revenues as a result of the legislation.

“The Congressional Budget Office has already increased its growth estimate over the next ten years by $6 trillion since we passed the tax cut.  The federal government is going to get 20 percent of that, so that’s going to be $1.5 trillion right there,” said Moore.

Moore also rejects the argument from Democrats that the tax reform is just providing a one-year “sugar high” that will dissipate in 2019, although he does urge lawmakers to make the tax cuts permanent.

But the past three months – and especially the past couple of weeks – have shown major losses on Wall Street.  If the Trump economic plan is so sound, why is this happening?

Moore says the Federal Reserve is to blame by raising interest rates.

“We’ve got a massive problem now on our hands.  The federal reserve is just crushing the economy.  It’s sucking dollars out of the economy at a time when we need the feds to be putting more money into the economy,” said Moore.

“The Fed made a tragic mistake on Dec. 19 when they raised interest rates.  They should be cutting interest rates, not raising them.  We’re in a deflationary spiral right now.  Look at what’s happening with oil prices.  Look what’s happening to the prices of wheat, cotton, soybeans, and copper.  It’s a very, very dangerous situation,” said Moore.

Listen to the full podcast to hear Moore explain how strong Trump’s re-election chances will be if the Fed stops raising interest rates and what those chances will be if they don’t.  He also lays out the contrast we’re likely to see in economic policy from Trump and the eventual Democratic nominee.

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Second Amendment Wins, Rough Economic Outlook, Gabbard 2020?

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America briefly react to the news Martha McSally will be appointed to fill the Arizona Senate seat once held by John McCain until the next election.  Then they welcome a New York judge lifting the ban on nunchucks in the state and offering a great defense for the right to keep and bear arms in the process.  They also squirm a bit as a growing number of economic forecasters think we could hit a recession in 2019.  And they discuss the presidential prospects of Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who gained admiration on the right for her criticism of Obama foreign policy until she inexplicably started defending Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

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Ex-Commerce Secretary Takes Us Inside Bush Economy

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Barbara H. Franklin is mourning the loss of a close friend, but George Bush was not only her friend.  He was President of the United States and Franklin’s boss when she served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

“I feel a sense of personal loss as well as the loss of a great president and a good man,” said Franklin, who first met Bush in the early 1970’s when he was U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and she served in the Nixon administration.

She felt an instant connection to George and Barbara Bush.

“I was very struck by his quality of character and his attributes.  He also was fun and funny and high energy and I was just very admiring of him.  Then I met Barbara Bush and I thought she was perfectly wonderful too.  We became friends,” said Franklin.

“I feel very privileged and honored to have known both of them for as long as I have,” said Franklin.

And what kind of boss was Bush?

“He could be tough-minded but he was forever gracious and the combination of being tough-minded and courageous when he needed to be, as well as gracious all the time, was a wonderful example for anyone,” said Franklin.

She remembers a phone conversation with President Bush late in 1992.  Bush had just lost the election but wanted Franklin to thaw ties with China, since high-level government contact had been severed since the brutal Chinese crackdown in pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

“I must say that went through my mind at the time was, ‘Well, why China, why me, and why now?’  I didn’t verbalize that to him, though, and then he explained that he wanted this relationship restored on a better footing before he left office so that the new administration could continue to engage in a good, bilateral way,” said Franklin.

Bush lost the election in part because of his failure to keep his “no new taxes” pledge and because the economy hit a recession in 1991.  Franklin points out that the GDP was back to a robust growth of three to four percent in late 1992, but many Americans could not feel the improvement yet and it cost Bush at the polls.

Listen to the full podcast to hear Franklin’s explanation of Bush’s top economic priorities, why he raised taxes after promising not to, why he was so successful in managing the end of the Cold War, and what she savored most from her friendship with the Bushes in the 25 years since the end of his administration

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The Closing Argument

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Democrats and Republicans have high hopes in Tuesday’s midterm elections, and while Democrats are fired up to throw up political roadblocks to President Trump, Republicans are also energized by lacking consistency in their closing message.

Conservative syndicated columnist Deroy Murdock says Republicans should not be talking about the migrants headed for the southern border when Republicans boast the best economy in the past half century.

“We should be talking about the economy, the economy, the economy, the economy today,” said Murdock.

“I know the caravan, or as I call it the pedestrian invasion force, is obviously a very important issue, but the GOP has a gift that’s wrapped in gold foil.  We ought to be talking about that,” he added.

While President Trump has focused a lot of attention on the migrants in the final days of the campaign, Murdock says his brethren in the media are working overtime to make every bad story a reflection on Trump.

“(They’ve done) terribly, as usual.  no big surprise,” said Murdock.

Murdock singled out media coverage of the horrific synagogue murders in Pittsburgh on Oct. 27, when a self-described neo-Nazi who hates President Trump committed the deadliest crime against Jews in American history.

He says no matter what Trump did, the press was ready to pounce.

“All these people said the president needs to unify us, bring us together, let us all heal.  So he goes to Pittsburgh to meet with the rabbi at the synagogue and heal the survivors of this atrocity.  Then they attack him for going there and say how dare you go there, when they’ve been begging for him to heal the country.

“Had he not gone there, the people in the media would have screamed, ‘How come he hasn’t gone there to heal the victims?’  So, no matter what the president does, these jackals in the old guard media will attack him mercilessly, non-stop, no matter what he does,” said Murdock.

The biggest energizer for Republican voters was the Democrats’ treatment of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.  For Democrats, they’ve been amped up to stick it to Trump at the polls since the day he won the presidency.

“The Democrats have pretty much been energized since election night two years ago.  They expected Hillary Clinton, the dutchess of Chappaqua, to rise to the throne of the throne at the White House, for which I guess she was born to serve.  That didn’t work out and they’ve pretty much been in a foaming at the mouth situation ever since,” said Murdock.

Listen to the full podcast as Murdock explains what he sees as the stakes in these midterm elections, and what constitutes a good, great, bad or very bad day at the polls for Republicans.

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