Posts published in “National Newspapers”

The Federal Reserve just cut interest rates again, offering more relief to borrowers, except the world’s bigger borrower, Uncle Sam. Federal interest costs are at record highs; they are causing huge federal budget deficits. Yet, deficits and interest costs are poised to escalate further.

Such enormous recurring deficits are a grave concern, obviously produced by some combination of insufficient tax revenue and excessive spending. President-Elect Trump and the Republican Congress are almost certain to extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts which are set to expire next year. So, additional tax revenue is unlikely.

While Democrats will scare-monger about extension and insufficient tax revenue, they forget that, before the tax cuts, the U.S. had the highest business tax rates in the developed world. U.S. companies were fleeing to foreign tax jurisdictions, not something we want to happen again. So, spending cuts have to be the main focus. We’ll get to that.

First, the problem. In the federal fiscal year just ended, net interest on the national debt reached $882 billion, surpassing Medicare and National Defense spending for the first time and trailing only Social Security ($1.4 trillion) and Health (excluding Medicare) ($912 billion).

But wait. The Federal Reserve has begun lowering interest rates. Isn’t the problem going away? No...

“Hamas can’t be destroyed.” So announced Israel Defense Forces spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, last week. Immediately, Prime Minster Netanyahu contradicted him, revealing extraordinary disarray at the highest levels of the Israeli government.

Actually, Netanyahu’s rebuke was a concession, in which he reformulated his original war aim of “eradicating Hamas” into “the destruction of Hamas’s military and governance capabilities.”

While the concession was long overdue, it did not acknowledge the whole of what Hagari said “This business of destroying Hamas, making Hamas disappear – it’s simply throwing sand in the eyes of the public. Hamas is an idea, Hamas is a party. It’s rooted in the hearts of the people – anyone who thinks we can eliminate Hamas is wrong.” The “idea,” of course is freedom for Palestinians.

April brought a big surprise – unexpectedly robust individual income tax receipts of $483 billion, a $103 billion, or 27%, increase over April 2023, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Uncle Sam can use the revenue, but even a $100 billion surprise will hardly make a dent in ongoing massive federal deficits. But why was it unexpected?

The increase included a $77 billion, or 26%, increase in final payment of taxes paid in estimated installments throughout the year, so-called non-withheld taxes. A large portion of non-withheld taxes are taxes on capital gains.

Two weeks ago, Joe Biden okayed more weapons for Israel to use during the U.N.-mandated Gaza ceasefire that Biden then greenlighted. Huh?

Yes, you read that correctly. As widely reported, Biden okayed the U.N. resolution for an immediate unconditional ceasefire in Gaza on March 25th. Few knew that, over the prior weekend, Biden had certified Israel as being in compliance with U.S. law and U.S foreign policy regarding acceptable use of U.S.-supplied weapons. So, more bombs and artillery shells are headed to Israel for...  Somewhat incoherent, right?