Thank you for addressing the "purity" votes of Massie and Paul. Assuming they have the best interests of the country at heart—a concession I will grant Paul but not Massie—one can understand the goal but not the means. These votes only make sense in a world that does not exist. A little realpolitik wouldn't hurt. I am willing to cut more slack to Musk since he routinely makes the impossible possible. But he too needs to understand the shortcomings of government. We simply do not have, on average, the quality of politicians needed to execute in a manner that improves upon our unfortunate extant processes. This must be painful for Musk. Fortunately, Trump also makes the impossible possible. But he is able to do it in a world that requires compromise, negotiation, and leverage. The country would be better off if Musk could truly appreciate this aspect of Trump's genius.
Why do I get the feeling, consequential as the past six months have been, that this might be the least exciting 1/8th of Trump’s 2nd term? He just seems to get more energized with each passing day. And the Dems just get stupider and more disorganized. I’m not tired of all the winning.
I was deeply depressed when Biden “won” in 2020, but in retrospect I think it just concentrated the force of the Trump restoration blowback. Trust the Plan.
Yes, Donald Trump learned a lot from the problems in his first term, but he needed the four years of Biden to plan for his second term: who to bring into his inner circle and cabinet, and what the clear priorities needed to be.
Biden being installed as President gave President Trump the time and space to think what he was going to accomplish in his second term. Avoiding the bullet in Butler gave him the feeling of destiny. He as accomplished more in my lifetime in the first 6 months than any other president and I'm 73 years old. The next really hard thing will be the entitlements including Social Security and Medicare. Depending on the economic growth that will be unleashed by the BBB tackling that will either be very difficult or impossible. Time will tell and we are headed in the right direction at warp speed.
> The next really hard thing will be the entitlements including Social Security and Medicare. Depending on the economic growth that will be unleashed by the BBB tackling that will either be very difficult or impossible.
Not merely impossible, taken off the table during the campaign. That’s a campaign promise I trust a lot more than the one about solving the Russian invasion of the Ukraine in a day. No politician serious about getting votes is serious about middle-class entitlements.
Suggested single-subject bills (in no particular order): no Federal funds to any institution that subjects minors to "transgender" services; non-citizens guilty of child sexual abuse (including underage pr0n) or sex trafficking may never return to US; no Federal funds to pay for any "transgender" services; new office of judicial ethics; insurers no longer required to pay for "transgender" services; a healthcare provider led task force to address administrative waste in Medicare and Medicaid; state and local governments that fund "transgender" services lose Federal funds at a 10:1 ratio; special prosecutor for congressional insider trading; greatly enhanced penalties for election fraud; special prosecutor for anti-ICE activities especially as to funding; return to in-person voting on paper ballots using voter ID with same-day count (with exceptions as generally applied before 1960); index student loan interest rates to default rates by field of study and institution; annual audits for all current and past members of Congress and all current and past Federal civil service employees with incomes >$100k; audits of all federal grants to NGOs, state, and local governments
Trump is right in the short run, but Musk is right in the long run. The question (problem) now is what comes next? I think Musk's mistake was to view this as a one time and done sort of thing. Hence the chain saw metaphor.
Rome wasn't built in a day nor did it collapse in a day. Both took a long time. The Federal Deficit didn't occur all of a sudden and it won't go away all of a sudden either. Rather than a one and done it 's more like playing Pac Man. You have to keep moving forward and gobbling up the dots in front of you to get to the end before the ghosts behind you gobble you up and end the game.
So does Trump\Vance & Company call it a win, pack up and go home or do they keep pushing to reduce the debt? Beats me. Politicians tend to like to spend other people's money, on both sides of the aisle. Russell B. Long is given credit for the "Don’t tax you. Don’t tax me. Tax the guy behind the tree." expression. Cutting projects and programs is the inverse. Don't cut mine, Don't cut thine , Cut that other guys.
Still it's a start, maybe not a great start or even a good one but a start and you have to start some where (See Churchill's Speech on the end of the beginning) Also depends on if the R's hold the House and Senate.
As the prophet said. We will see what we will see when we see it. And before it sees us, if we are lucky.
"My suggestion for the GOP is that they now start hitting the Democrats with single-subject bills that will have to be voted up or down, and that will be very politically expensive for Democrats to oppose…"
Donald J. Trump will be the first president in history who was a more consequential president in his second term than he was in his first. And his first term was fairly consequential.
Hugh Hewitt left out a few things, as well as assuming that the aims of various executive orders will be realized.
Left out:
1. Provided the hardliners in Iran with the excuse they need to kick out the IAEA inspectors, transport their enriched uranium, which Trump’s raids failed to destroy, to a secret location, and to start the construction of a nuclear weapon, one that can be used to blackmail the world by hiding it in a container ship or a drone and can be used to protect Iran from future raids while they develop the ability to mount that nuclear weapon on an ICBM. Good work Donald.
2. Proposed a bunch of mindless tariffs that have no other purpose than the fool’s errand of making products more expensive for the country’s consumers than by importing them from countries with lower production costs and that will needlessly slow the economy or cause a recession.
3. Embarked on an unnecessary and socially and economically damaging mass deportation scheme that is doing tremendous damage and cannot possible achieve its unwarranted goals. A scheme that completely disregards the intelligent alternative of deporting those who have committed serious crimes and offering a path to citizenship to the rest, with a 5-year deadline before being asked to leave the country.
4. Passed an atrocious budget bill that steals from the poor to give to the rich, including taking away health insurance and benefits from millions.
5. Took actions so unpopular with voters that the only 6-month approval ratings that are lower are for Trump 1.0.
Of course the GOP should offer bills that would be politically expensive for the Democrats to oppose. But I don't see them doing that. All they seem to know how to do is block Democrats. It is long past time for some serious immigration reform, not to stop it or even slow it but to restore it to what it is supposed to be, in the interests of the United States. Congress should make it much easier to deport undesirable persons (Like riot leading antisemites) and should make it much harder for an illegal to remain in the country pending a fake asylum claim. That would be really popular. But it seems to me that Trump wants to be the dominant force and unless he proposes it, he will not support it.
I’m still waiting for 8 or 10 year term limits for bureaucrats, govt work should not be a career.
180 days is too short for all, but 7 years of learning and work, with a final year of hand off training the next guy, is plenty for any “public service.”
The buy out offer was genius, very much private company like. But more servants need to go.
Thank you for addressing the "purity" votes of Massie and Paul. Assuming they have the best interests of the country at heart—a concession I will grant Paul but not Massie—one can understand the goal but not the means. These votes only make sense in a world that does not exist. A little realpolitik wouldn't hurt. I am willing to cut more slack to Musk since he routinely makes the impossible possible. But he too needs to understand the shortcomings of government. We simply do not have, on average, the quality of politicians needed to execute in a manner that improves upon our unfortunate extant processes. This must be painful for Musk. Fortunately, Trump also makes the impossible possible. But he is able to do it in a world that requires compromise, negotiation, and leverage. The country would be better off if Musk could truly appreciate this aspect of Trump's genius.
Outstanding summation, Glenn. And hat tip to HH.
After the Trump wrecking ball to the rot.
Now we can replace it new!
Why do I get the feeling, consequential as the past six months have been, that this might be the least exciting 1/8th of Trump’s 2nd term? He just seems to get more energized with each passing day. And the Dems just get stupider and more disorganized. I’m not tired of all the winning.
I was deeply depressed when Biden “won” in 2020, but in retrospect I think it just concentrated the force of the Trump restoration blowback. Trust the Plan.
Yes, Donald Trump learned a lot from the problems in his first term, but he needed the four years of Biden to plan for his second term: who to bring into his inner circle and cabinet, and what the clear priorities needed to be.
Biden being installed as President gave President Trump the time and space to think what he was going to accomplish in his second term. Avoiding the bullet in Butler gave him the feeling of destiny. He as accomplished more in my lifetime in the first 6 months than any other president and I'm 73 years old. The next really hard thing will be the entitlements including Social Security and Medicare. Depending on the economic growth that will be unleashed by the BBB tackling that will either be very difficult or impossible. Time will tell and we are headed in the right direction at warp speed.
> The next really hard thing will be the entitlements including Social Security and Medicare. Depending on the economic growth that will be unleashed by the BBB tackling that will either be very difficult or impossible.
Not merely impossible, taken off the table during the campaign. That’s a campaign promise I trust a lot more than the one about solving the Russian invasion of the Ukraine in a day. No politician serious about getting votes is serious about middle-class entitlements.
Long time fan, Glenn, From instapundit two decades ago, til now. Great piece.
Suggested single-subject bills (in no particular order): no Federal funds to any institution that subjects minors to "transgender" services; non-citizens guilty of child sexual abuse (including underage pr0n) or sex trafficking may never return to US; no Federal funds to pay for any "transgender" services; new office of judicial ethics; insurers no longer required to pay for "transgender" services; a healthcare provider led task force to address administrative waste in Medicare and Medicaid; state and local governments that fund "transgender" services lose Federal funds at a 10:1 ratio; special prosecutor for congressional insider trading; greatly enhanced penalties for election fraud; special prosecutor for anti-ICE activities especially as to funding; return to in-person voting on paper ballots using voter ID with same-day count (with exceptions as generally applied before 1960); index student loan interest rates to default rates by field of study and institution; annual audits for all current and past members of Congress and all current and past Federal civil service employees with incomes >$100k; audits of all federal grants to NGOs, state, and local governments
Perfesser- Yes, Trump 2.0 has given us a very happy 4th of July!
Trump is right in the short run, but Musk is right in the long run. The question (problem) now is what comes next? I think Musk's mistake was to view this as a one time and done sort of thing. Hence the chain saw metaphor.
Rome wasn't built in a day nor did it collapse in a day. Both took a long time. The Federal Deficit didn't occur all of a sudden and it won't go away all of a sudden either. Rather than a one and done it 's more like playing Pac Man. You have to keep moving forward and gobbling up the dots in front of you to get to the end before the ghosts behind you gobble you up and end the game.
So does Trump\Vance & Company call it a win, pack up and go home or do they keep pushing to reduce the debt? Beats me. Politicians tend to like to spend other people's money, on both sides of the aisle. Russell B. Long is given credit for the "Don’t tax you. Don’t tax me. Tax the guy behind the tree." expression. Cutting projects and programs is the inverse. Don't cut mine, Don't cut thine , Cut that other guys.
Still it's a start, maybe not a great start or even a good one but a start and you have to start some where (See Churchill's Speech on the end of the beginning) Also depends on if the R's hold the House and Senate.
As the prophet said. We will see what we will see when we see it. And before it sees us, if we are lucky.
"My suggestion for the GOP is that they now start hitting the Democrats with single-subject bills that will have to be voted up or down, and that will be very politically expensive for Democrats to oppose…"
Amen, Glenn
Donald J. Trump will be the first president in history who was a more consequential president in his second term than he was in his first. And his first term was fairly consequential.
You are gosh darned right I voted for all this stuff. Proud of it.
Hugh Hewitt left out a few things, as well as assuming that the aims of various executive orders will be realized.
Left out:
1. Provided the hardliners in Iran with the excuse they need to kick out the IAEA inspectors, transport their enriched uranium, which Trump’s raids failed to destroy, to a secret location, and to start the construction of a nuclear weapon, one that can be used to blackmail the world by hiding it in a container ship or a drone and can be used to protect Iran from future raids while they develop the ability to mount that nuclear weapon on an ICBM. Good work Donald.
2. Proposed a bunch of mindless tariffs that have no other purpose than the fool’s errand of making products more expensive for the country’s consumers than by importing them from countries with lower production costs and that will needlessly slow the economy or cause a recession.
3. Embarked on an unnecessary and socially and economically damaging mass deportation scheme that is doing tremendous damage and cannot possible achieve its unwarranted goals. A scheme that completely disregards the intelligent alternative of deporting those who have committed serious crimes and offering a path to citizenship to the rest, with a 5-year deadline before being asked to leave the country.
4. Passed an atrocious budget bill that steals from the poor to give to the rich, including taking away health insurance and benefits from millions.
5. Took actions so unpopular with voters that the only 6-month approval ratings that are lower are for Trump 1.0.
Of course the GOP should offer bills that would be politically expensive for the Democrats to oppose. But I don't see them doing that. All they seem to know how to do is block Democrats. It is long past time for some serious immigration reform, not to stop it or even slow it but to restore it to what it is supposed to be, in the interests of the United States. Congress should make it much easier to deport undesirable persons (Like riot leading antisemites) and should make it much harder for an illegal to remain in the country pending a fake asylum claim. That would be really popular. But it seems to me that Trump wants to be the dominant force and unless he proposes it, he will not support it.
Could not agree more with your recommendation about single issue bills. BBB set the stage an onslaught of such bills.
> it’s biggest impact
S/b “it’s.”
I’m still waiting for 8 or 10 year term limits for bureaucrats, govt work should not be a career.
180 days is too short for all, but 7 years of learning and work, with a final year of hand off training the next guy, is plenty for any “public service.”
The buy out offer was genius, very much private company like. But more servants need to go.