The View from Right Field

Raise Taxes on Rich People – But Not OUR Rich People

Perhaps the funniest reaction to Donald Trump’s new tax plan has been that of Democrats from states with high state and local taxes, objecting to President Trump’s proposal to abolish the deduction for these taxes.

President Obama talked all the time about rich people needing to pay higher taxes and about how they needed to pay their fair share.¹  By getting rid of the deduction for state and local taxes (especially income taxes), President Trump’s proposal would get rich people to pay more income taxes.  The problem for Democrats, however, seems to be that it would increase income taxes for the wrong types of rich people; i.e., it would increase the taxes of rich people who live in states that lean Democratic (or have totally fallen over that way) – because those are the states with high state and local taxes.

Donald Trump at 100 Days

What is there to say about Donald Trump at 100 days?  Probably the biggest thing is to note his comment that he did not realize how hard the job was going to be.  When was the last time we had a president so unaware of the job he was trying to get elected to?

With respect to President Trump’s actual performance, I have previously said that I like some of his nominations/appointments, such as Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court and H.R. McMaster as National Security Adviser.   

Pushing Us Back to the Dark Days - The Beginning of Year Eight of the Obama Administration

In trying to make its first 100 days look good, the Trump administration is highlighting its record of rolling back federal regulations on things from education to land use to federal purchasing rules.  (See also here.)  Federal rules prohibiting states from limiting funding to abortion providers have also been overturned.

Needless to say, Democrats and progressives, and their friends in the media, are aghast.  President Trump’s actions are pushing us back into the dark ages.  People will go unprotected.  Business can pollute at will.  Etc.  Etc.

Chris Coghlan Meet Jimmy Qualls, Chicago #Cubs 1969

By now, many of you have probably seen Chris Coghlan’s slide/dive over Yadier Molina last night in St. Louis.  If you haven’t, here it is.  Take a look:

It was a great play, and it’s great we can share it and see it over and over again.  But while it was great, it was not unique.  Virtually the same play happened on June 13, 1969.  The Cubs were playing the Reds in Cincinnati.  The Cubs had led 4 to 0 and 8 to 6, but the Reds kept coming back.  The game was tied 8 to 8 in the top of the tenth.  Al Spangler led off by grounding out to the pitcher.  Next up was Jimmy Qualls¹, who had come up from the Cubs AAA farm team in Tacoma a few days before.  Qualls doubled.  Jim Hickman struck out, and Don Kessinger was walked intentionally.  That brought up Paul Popovich.  I’ll let Ray Sons of the Chicago Daily News take the story from here:

Energy Subsidies for Those Who Don’t Need Them – Paid for By Those Who Can’t Afford Them

Green energy is all the rage.  We have to save the planet, after all, and green energy is the way to do it.  It may cost money, but it’s worth it – especially when you don’t have to pay for it yourself.

Robert Bryce wrote in The Wall Street Journal last week about his contribution to the green energy movement – and our contribution to him:

“[I]t’s only appropriate that I express appreciation for the generous subsidy you provided for the 28-panel, four-array, 8,540-watt photovoltaic system I installed on my metal roof last year.  Thanks to the investment tax credit, I slashed my 2016 federal tax bill by $7,758. …

China’s Unbelievable Economic Numbers. Are They Believable?

The Wall Street Journal reported last week on China’s GDP growth rate for the first quarter of 2017.  It seemed to be big news that quarterly growth rate (i.e., the change from the quarter a year earlier) was 6.9%, an increase from 6.8% the previous quarter.  It would seem to me that 0.1% is almost a rounding error, but the article thought it was important.

Perhaps more interesting, though, was the chart of China’s reported quarterly growth rates, on a year-over-year basis, for the last several years:

Are Donald Trump’s Tweets Just Another Form of Leak?*

For years (decades; maybe even centuries), administrations have used leaks from “unidentified sources” as a way to test out ideas, send signals or warnings, etc., both to the public and to other governments.  The leak gets the idea out, without requiring a detailed explanation from the administration.  It’s vague and inherently imprecise.  And the idea or leak can be abandoned, if necessary, without affecting the administration’s credibility. 

All of which, with the exception of the last point above, sounds like Donald Trump’s tweets.  Consider President Trump’s tweet of a week ago:

“Why would I call China a currency manipulator when they are working with us on the North Korean problem?”

China’s Main Concern is Keeping North Korea Around

In a post last week, I talked about what I understand to be North Korea’s main goal in its foreign and domestic policy: maintaining Kim Jong Un in power, and how that goal is driving North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs.

But what about the People’s Republic of China?  China is viewed by many as the key to controlling North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.  What are China’s concerns?  According to most commentators, they have several.  First, if North Korea collapses, there could be a flood of refugees into China.

Getting Back Into the Postseason – After Winning It All. If It Was Easy, Everybody Would Do It.

With the Cubs only 7-7 after fourteen games, some people are already starting to worry.  Obviously, it is what Cubs fans do best.  However, people need to realize that repeating is hard.  Actually, even getting back to the postseason, let alone winning the World Series again, is hard.  Of the 16 teams that have won the World Series since 2000 (and since the Yankees repeated 1998-2000), only seven of them even made it into the postseason the next year.  In fact, losers do better in getting back into the postseason than winners.  Eleven of the sixteen World Series losers made it back to the postseason the next year.

In terms of getting back to the World Series, two World Series winners did it:  the 2000 Yankees got back in 2001 (and lost to the Diamondbacks), as did the 2008 Phillies (who lost to the Yankees in ’09).  The Rangers lost in both 2010 and 2011.  The Royals were the only team, since 2000, to win the World Series the year after losing it (winning in 2015 after losing in 2014).

In other words, it’s not easy.  But there is always hope.  Something Cubs fans know about.

Why Can’t Government Set Clear Rules and Not Keep Changing Them?

I have written frequently about the idea that “government should not be a risk business has to manage” (inter alia, here and here).  The front page of today’s Wall Street Journal has an article about the problems health insurers are having in knowing what the rules will be before they set prices for health insurance policies for 2018:

“Health insurers, facing fast-approaching deadlines to file plans for next year’s Affordable Care Act marketplaces amid uncertainty about the law’s fate, are putting off key business decisions as they scour for clues on social media and in the hallways of Washington. …

Continuing uncertainty will force more cautious strategies, insurers say, such as bigger rate increases, or pullbacks or withdrawals, because they can no longer stomach the risk.