Economy

U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas Exports Just Quadrupled – It’s Good For The Economy & National Security

Last year Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned natural gas company, provided some 40 percent of Europe’s gas needs. Gazprom produced 16.6 trillion cubic feet of gas. By comparison, America produced almost 27 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in 2017 and, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, is on track to produce 43 trillion cubic feet of natural...

May 14, 2018

Economy

SALT Deduction Cap Appears To Be Shifting Job Creation To Low Tax States

With President Trump’s signature, a massive tax overhaul and cut became law in late December. With the tax cut came the usual forecasts, with liberal New York Times columnist Paul Krugman writing on March 1 declaring, “You’ve been scammed” referring to American taxpayers, while noting “Yet even before the tax cut, federal tax receipts were looking weak for an...

May 9, 2018

Taxes & Spending

Blue State blues – Trump’s tax cut is supercharging job growth in low tax states

On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed a massive tax cut and reform bill crafted by Republicans without the help of one Democrat vote. One of the bill’s more controversial measures was the limitation of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction to $10,000 through 2026. According to the CPA Journal, taxpayers in California, New York,...

May 7, 2018

Economy

Texas Produces Five Times The Wind Power As California At Almost Half The Price – Blame Regulation

The electricity markets in the two most-populous states couldn’t be more different. California government heavily regulates electricity while Texas allows free market competition in most of the state. Yet, Texas produced about five times the amount of wind power as did California in 2017 while it generated about 29 percent more non-hydroelectric renewable power (California’s strict renewable...

May 7, 2018

Economy

California’s equal pay bill: What’s an extra billion in annual regulatory costs among friends?

Lawmakers in California are at it again. A few months ago, after President Trump signed the Republican tax cut and reform bill into law, there was a flurry of tax hike legislation out of Sacramento, most of it aimed at businesses. While taxes levy a direct claim on a company’s bottom line, other laws and...

May 1, 2018

Economy

California’s crazy one-party liberal politics is why I had to finally leave the state — and I’m not alone

  Twitter’s CEO, Jack Dorsey, infamously tweeted a link in early April to a story calling for a bloodless civil war to solve America’s problems. The piece, “The Great Lesson of California in America’s New Civil War: Why there’s no bipartisan way forward at this juncture in our history — one side must win” was...

April 16, 2018

Economy

This Nazi Parade Will Help You Reassess How Bad Our Time Really Is

  An old photo on my Twitter stream captured my attention. It was of a German military parade in occupied Warsaw in 1940. My interest in history led me to think about the scene and how it represented a reality far removed from the average American’s experience. The Germans were marking the one-year anniversary of...

April 3, 2018

Economy

One Stat Explains Why The California Legislature Is Prone To Pass Outrageous Laws

This commentary was originally featured in The Federalist on March 13, 2018.  A California lawmaker recently came up with the bright idea that waiters who serve unrequested straws should go to jail for six months because … the environment. Another duo of lawmakers have proposed more than doubling California’s business tax under the theory that...

March 13, 2018

Economy

THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF A SANDWICH: Straw Laws, Meat Taxes, and when ‘Science’ Infringes on Freedom

  A story out of the United Kingdom details a University of Manchester research project to determine the carbon footprint of the humble sandwich. The upshot: a prepackaged and refrigerated breakfast sandwich with egg, bacon or sausage, produces as much carbon dioxide as a 12-mile car trip. No word on what kind of car the scientists assumed...

February 2, 2018

Economy

California and the definition of insanity: Why do Democrats love tax hikes so much?

  California is already seeing residents and businesses flee the state because of its sky-high taxes. Yet unbelievably, two Democratic state assemblymen have proposed to more than double the state business tax – hiking it from 8.84 percent to 18.84 percent on businesses with annual net incomes of more than $1 million. This would be the highest...

January 24, 2018

Energy & Environment

Was Washington’s Deadly Derailment Caused By A Federal Stimulus Fund Deadline?

  In the wake of the deadly Amtrak train derailment that claimed three lives in Washington state, The Seattle Timesreported that state transportation officials were under a tight federal funding deadline which, if missed, would have resulted in millions of federal stimulus dollars going unclaimed. Absent the federal incentive, state transportation officials had targeted a 2019...

January 3, 2018

Local Government

Trump’s tax bill and regulatory reform will spark an economic boom, benefitting all Americans

Historic tax cut legislation that President Trump signed into law Friday will give us the chance to see what happens when an entire nation of 326 million people discards the failed policies of big government and managed stagnation, and instead rewards hard work and innovation. Within hours of final passage of the Tax Cuts and...

December 22, 2017