Category Archives: Donald Trump

UPDATED (12/2): Puerto-Rican Politicians & Activists Using POTUS As Their Piñata

Debt, Donald Trump, Economy, IMMIGRATION, Media

The American media and manipulative Puerto-Rican politicians are using President Trump as a piñata. Poke and pound him and the American taxpayer enough until, stateside, everyone is soon apologizing for merely existing, and coughing up into the coffers of corrupt representatives.

By all means, help the largely tax-exempt Puerto Rico territory. But realize, admit and quit the cover-up of the fact that Puerto Rico is a socialized, fiscally bankrupt, systemically corrupt “welfare state with a labor force participation rate one-third less than in the United States.” Wondering why there’s no power and water? “The major Puerto Rican state-owned or controlled enterprises are all losing money, including the power authority which is insolvent”:

… Puerto Rico has a bloated government with far too many employees, unstainable pension obligations, and an intolerable level of corruption. The proper solution to the Puerto Rican debt problem is for the U.S. government to establish a “control board,” which Congress has the authority to do. This past Friday, Rep. Jeff Duncan, South Carolina Republican, of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, sent a letter to his fellow lawmakers advocating a control board for Puerto Rico, much like the one they created for the District of Columbia a couple of decades back, when D.C. was in danger of default because of mismanagement.

Puerto Rico needs fundamental restructuring of its pension and civil service systems. It needs to sell all of its interests in the fully or partially state-owned enterprises. That is, privatize them. (How many more hundreds of years will we need before the political class learns that socialism — i.e. state-owned enterprises — always fails)? In Hong Kong, even most of the transportation infrastructure is in private hands — and it is clean, efficient, attractive, and works without government subsidies.

Puerto Rico needs to radically reduce government spending, taxes and regulation so it begins to attract foreign capital again rather than driving it away. Puerto Rico is now a welfare state with a labor force participation rate one-third less than in the United States. Many of the most productive Puerto Ricans have moved to the mainland — but could be attracted back with their high-level job skills if the economic environment was made attractive again. Puerto Rico needs to embrace the Hong Kong economic freedom model, rather than the Greek model of too much government. …

MORE: “Puerto Rico Is America’s Greece By Richard W. Rahn.”

UPDATED (12/2):


Even Virginia, cradle of the American republic, has gone blue.

UPDATED (4/5/018): Ann Coulter Is Keeping Trump On His Toes

Ann Coulter, Critique, Donald Trump, Politics

Commentator Jack Kerwick has no mercy for Ms. Ann Coulter (although he’s very nice about Mercer), in his American Greatness article. Myself, I find it enormously useful that Ann is doing the work this immigrant does not want to do.

I kept up 8 years of attacks on Genghis Bush. I’m tired. Ms. Coulter has the broad professional shoulders to tackle Trump. Let Ann keep Trump on his toes (although I doubt it’s possible; the man is a dud). Ann used to be a GOPer, now she’s The People’s warrior. A patriot disappointed will rage.

Read “Who’s the Con: Trump or . . . Ann Coulter?”

UPDATE (4/5/018):

No money for a wall?


Make Nigeria Great Again:

Neoconservatives Are Thrilled With President Trump’s Foreign Policy

Donald Trump, Foreign Policy, Nationhood, Neoconservatism

Bloomberg’s Eli Lake is in neoconservative heaven: “… for Venezuela [Donald Trump] came very close to calling for regime change. ‘The United States has taken important steps to hold the regime accountable,’ Trump said. ‘We are prepared to take further action if the government of Venezuela persists on its path to impose authoritarian rule on the Venezuelan people.’
For a moment, I closed my eyes and thought I was listening to a Weekly Standard editorial meeting. …”

Mr. Lake is loving it. He thinks of this expansionism as “American exceptionalism.”

Is Mad Dog Mattis Off His Rocker Like Rocket Man?

Donald Trump, Foreign Policy, Military, War

Six minutes into the clip, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson states, with reference to what Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has been saying: “Anyone who thinks North Korea won’t fight to the very death, with every citizen’s blood, is thinking nonsense.” We cannot get 85 percent of their underground facilities with a first-strike! Impossible!

In other words, if Mattis truly believes, as he has said, that there’s a military option in the Korean peninsula, one that won’t kill off millions; he’s gone off his rocker.

… according to Mattis, the Pentagon has a few tricks up its sleeve that wouldn’t involve the decimation of Seoul. When asked whether there was “any military option the US can take with North Korea that would not put Seoul at grave risk,” Mattis responded, “Yes, there are, but I will not go into details.”

Nonsense: “Mattis hints at secret ‘kinetic’ military options for North Korea.”

Some sense.