Mamas and the Papas Credit:Rock Photography Museum
After the extended Independence Day Week, I had no choice but to wait for Monday.
Head Scratching and Counterintuitive Assertions
Joe Biden’s lamentable performances in the 2024 campaign were not due to his clearly evident neurological deficits, but to exhaustion from a good father caring for the travails of Hunter Biden. WSJ scientific reporting says it’s so.
Trump Deficits Will Sink Every Measure of Economic Benefit Forever
The simple truth is that our politicians, and we the anaesthetized citizenry, have never, ever tried to reduce near-term expenditures. “Cuts” to Federal programs were celebrated if a proposal suggested that the growth rate of a spending program be reduced. Of course, the final proposal never even did that.
Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker wrote in his 1981 Congressional testimony, “Despite efforts to cut back from time to time, government spending has gained a momentum of its own; the possibility of attacking the problem presents itself.” From there through the feckless Biden administration, which as I show in a previous Substack ,will burden the economy for decades into the future.
The original Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 over its horizon had its “costs” with larger standard deductions and lower rates in the first three years as I recall, and then the higher corporate investments in capital and job creation from the boon to capital spending and R&D overwhelmed the front end costs. The across the board higher standard deduction for all taxpayers never gets a mention, but virtually all middle income taxpayers perceive it positively. Most taxpayers, for example, don’t itemize, but they do make charitable contributions; deductions for which are therefore available only to higher income taxpayers. The indexed, large standard deduction takes away that complaint, and there is no need for record keeping. It was a simple but ingenious wrinkle.
For the best initial analysis of the TC&J Act program, see the analysis from the Tax Foundation which shows the thinking at the time. Journalists and their political clients who want to spin tales about extending the program adding to future deficits are not helping their cause with economic ignorance.
Of course, Elon Musk’s charge was exactly to cut spending by eliminating redundant or unproductive Federal positions, or departments. He had everything teed up, and for the first time, there was hope. But, especially Democrats, and many Republicans didn’t actually want real deficit reduction, and we can’t trust that day.
The FDA and Abortions
A narrative spun in the press claims to show an unintended consequence of the Dobbs decision was leaving young couples who moved into a state because abortions were freely available; after the move when their state subsequently decided through its down elected legislature to put certain restrictions on abortion providers, they were looking at having to move. . This doesn’t make sense because the fastest growing, and now dominant share of abortions are done using drugs, especially mifepristone, which carries FDA labelling and accounts for 63% of Guttmacher Institute 2023 reported abortions nationwide. Here is a link to a history of FDA regulation of the mifepristone regimen. The description of the FDA clinical study simply talks about success rates for patients, most in the 90% or better rates. However, there is no clear discussion of patient complications, or especially MACE (major adverse clinical events). This is always reported in a clinical study, but this study might not rise to the usual level of detail. Where is Dr. Fauci when we need to hear from him?
As readers can see for themselves, the FDA over time took doctors, nurses and clinical personnel out of the program and changed to dispensers to “certified providers” to reduce the burden on the healthcare system from providing the drug. What burden is that? What about patient safety? The drugs can be acquired by mail, or online, although the latter alternative is discouraged. So, why would anyone have to move in order to have an elective abortion?
Grade Inflation?
I had to be told about this one. Private high schools and almost all large, suburban high schools offer juniors and seniors Advanced Placement classes for college credit. Well, it’s got to the point where the schools give, say, 5 credits for AP biology versus 4 credits for the normal biology course. So an A for the AP student gets a weight of 25 percent more than the normal weight, so students graduate with a 4.5 GPA. Now with students using AI for their admission essays, what’s a normal, hard working student to do?
My Alma Mater Never Fails To Embarrass and Astound
When I heard that Representative Elise Stefanik (R:NY) was asking another Columbia President to resign, I thought “Listen, Elise you just booted our President who was one of the top doctors at CU Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons! Give us a break.” Well, then I saw the story about our latest President Claire Shipman. OMG. how did this person even get on our Board of Trustees?
WSJ Online Edition. Credit: Seth Wening for Reuters
I wondered about the baseball cap, instead of the traditional felt Oxbridge, Milan, Barcelona university caps. Then I read her bio! “Claire Shipman (born October 4, 1962) is an American television journalist and the former senior national correspondent for ABC's Good Morning America. [Wikipedia] As Johnny Carson might have said, “I kid you not.” I want my readers to go out with a laugh, and so I link to the WSJ article which documents what Prez Claire sent out to fellow trustees, alumni and donors. Two Columbia degrees didn’t instill any probity or sense of decorum into her thought processes and actions. Let’s lose her quickly. “In Lumine Tuo Videbimus Lumen,” In Your Light We Shall See Light, speaking of the Divine, with the mission of the school bringing light to the campus and students through learning. Hope is ever new.