Trump 'Miracle' — over 10 regulations killed for every new one, billions saved

The Trump administration has blown out of the water its goal of killing two Obama regulations for every new one created, resulting in an “economic miracle,” according to a senior administration official.

Previewing President Trump’s Thursday announcement on his team’s success, a top official said that the reduction on regulations has topped 10 for every new one imposed.

“An economic miracle is happening,” the official told Secrets. “We are pulling away from the economic headwinds we faced early and the tax cut will sustain our efforts. It’s a two for one punch."

Trump will reveal the exact number of regulations cut and the savings in a Roosevelt Room address.

When he came to office, he signed Executive Order 13771 to cut two regulations for every new one. Part of the goal was to overturn 600 last-minute rules imposed by former President Barack Obama at the end of his term, at more than a $15 billion price tag.

In office, Trump put his team on notice to cut regulations, and one department — Interior — has led the way.

While Congress moved first to cut regulations with the Congressional Review Act, the administration’s cuts are what is fueling the repeal of rules.

Neomi Rao, the head of the Office of Regulatory Affairs, will address the success in a Wall Street Journal column Thursday morning.

In it, she writes that legally required regulations will stay but those imposed by Obama not in law will be cut.

“Some regulations legitimately address important health, safety and welfare priorities identified by Congress. The Trump administration respects the rule of law and will not roll back effective, legally required regulations.

But in the previous administration, agencies frequently exceeded their legal authority when imposing costly rules. Some agencies announced important policy changes without following the formal rule-making process,” she wrote.

Rao added, “Regulatory reform not only promotes individual liberty and a flourishing economy, it also supports constitutional democracy. Through OIRA's regulatory review process, we ensure that agencies stay within the legal authority given by Congress.

When the law provides discretion, we work with agencies to ensure that regulatory policy reflects presidential priorities. This executive direction makes the rule-making process democratic and accountable.”

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Trump is the modern day JFK

How sad is it that the party that brought us John F. Kennedy's tax cuts, economic growth and higher wages is now the party that puts redistribution ahead of prosperity.

Not a single House Democrat on November 16 or Senate Democrat on December 2 voted for their version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Not one.

Some argue that the Trump tax cut will increase the deficit, but they should listen to the wisdom of JFK in 1962, when he, too, was battling a large deficit. President Kennedy declared at the New York Economic Club that "it is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high today and tax revenues are too low -- and the soundest way to raise revenues in the long run is to cut rates now.''

JFK knew that America's biggest problem was not the budget deficit but a growth deficit. And based on Donald Trump's proposed tax cuts, he seems to share JFK's wisdom.

Kennedy was, of course, proven exactly right. After the tax cuts were enacted after his death, America experienced one of the greatest periods of prosperity in our history.

Larry Kudlow's 2016 book "JFK and The Reagan Revolution" documented the post-JFK tax cut growth spurt. "The tax payments by the wealthiest filers nearly doubled," he wrote. "We had many quarters of 6% growth back then."

That same effect was duplicated when Ronald Reagan chopped the top income tax rate from 70 to 28% and the corporate rate from 46 to 34%. The share of taxes paid by the richest 1% rose around 6% from 1980 to 1990. Total tax revenues surged from $517 billion in 1980 to just over $1 trillion by 1990.

Which brings us back to the 21st century "progressive" Democrats‎. In 1986, Reagan's tax reform bill passed the US Senate -- are you sitting down? -- by a vote of 97-3. This included the votes of such prominent Democrats as Bill Bradley, Ted Kennedy, Howard Metzenbaum, and Sam Nunn.

In 1997, Bill Clinton -- who admittedly raised taxes in 1993 -- signed into law one of the biggest bipartisan tax cuts in history, including a slashing of the capital gains tax. Although some argue that Clinton's tax cuts were not the cause of the economic prosperity that followed, I don't think it was a mere coincidence that America experienced a growth and employment boom so great that the budget reached a surplus.

Yet some seem to disregard this history and claim that tax cuts don't work. We also hear claims that Republicans are no longer the party of deficit reduction. Perhaps not. But the party has transformed itself into the party of growth. The Democrats are the new austerity party.

Democrats say they wish Trump had put forward a bipartisan tax plan, but what are the Democratic alternatives? Bernie Sanders' proposal would raise the top tax rate to over 50%. Can anyone with a straight face argue that this would help the economy?
The Democratic party today has repudiated JFK economics. Donald Trump has picked up that mantle.

As Kennedy said in his 1962 address on the state of the national economy, "Every dollar released from taxation that is spent or invested will help create a new job and a new salary."

Question: does that sound like Nancy Pelosi and Charles Schumer, or Donald Trump?

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Some end of year observations about Europe

By Rich Kozlovich (Rich is of Serbian origins so Europe is an interest of his.  Serbs were passionately involved in both world wars)

One of the things everyone should easily be aware of - nothing is ever as it appears in politics, national or international. The only constant we can be assured of is - there will be change. Foundational systems for a stable world are crumbling, and although these structures continue to exist who can say for how long and what the outcome will be.

However, there are certain fundamentals that apply that allow for reasonable conclusions and anticipation of world events. One of them is - finances! Eventually everything has to be paid for! And that's not just a problem in the United States with over 20 trillion in outright debt, not to mention the financial obligations regarding Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. That might be a total debt load of over 100 trillion dollars.

Europe is a mess. There's talk of their era of harmony being over, but I say - there never really was any real harmony right from the beginning. The Brits have decided to leave the EU, causing a ton of anxiety on both sides of this issue, but I believe it's sending shivers down the backs of all the EU leadership and bureaucracy as they see this as the tip of the iceberg, and the harbinger of their doom.

Poland and Hungary are in revolt and simply refusing to adhere to EU demands, especially involving immigration, and the EU leadership is outraged and mostly helpless as the Eastern periphery of the EU revolts. Poland is moving toward what most western nation would view as undemocratic by taking control over what's seen on television and heard on the radio. They also planning on taking control over the judiciary. That really doesn't sit well with the EU. But we also have to understand all the EU countries have taken positions that could absolutely be construed as anti-democratic.

The center of the EU - Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands - along with Sweden, Norway and most likely Denmark want the Eastern bloc punished for their refusal to go along with the wishes of these dysfunctional leaders who've been leading Europe into an eventual oblivion of Muslim domination. Eastern Europe will not accept these suicidal EU policies and eventually the Center EU may be left to form their own coalition and continue the policies that's destroying Europe.

But the Eastern EU countries, and I include the Czechs in this, are a far different breed from the center, or even Britain. They don't really like the idea of being a singular entity, they don't like Muslim immigration, and they like their individuality. Europe is a mismatch of different cultures and different languages. How do you unify that mix, especially when their citizens don't really want unification?

Did you know the United States is officially on the metric system? That became official decades ago. But no one wanted it, and we're still measuring in inches, feet, gallons, miles per hour, etc. Making something the law doesn't mean it will be reality.

Europe isn't a nation. Europe is nothing more than a geographical expression, as a result it's simply not possible for EU politicians to be effective and force their views on the whole. Politics is the art of the possible. The EU isn't possible, in spite of the fact the leadership wants and thinks in terms of being an entity that's in harmony - the rules imposed by the EU make that impossible.

In the meanwhile, Europe's economic growth has been meager and anti-immigration forces are garnering strength, all of which is tearing Europe apart. And that includes their financial wherewithal.

Europe is in deep debt and here's the reality. If there's a worldwide economic downturn the EU will cease to exist overnight instead of in five years - which is my prediction - the EU will cease to exist as we know it within five years.  And countries like Greece will cease to exist as independent nations within 15 years, and it may be far less. 

The United States is one of the few, and possibly the only nation, that can actually survive such a downturn as the US, being a natural capital generator due to many factors, has the ability to overcome the debt load we discussed at the beginning.  The US is also capable of feeding itself, fueling itself, arming itself and defending itself, irrespective of what's going on in the rest of the world.   Neither Europe, Russia, China or much of the rest of the world of international trade is capable of doing all four of those foundational things.

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For more blog postings from me, see  TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH,  POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, and Paralipomena (Occasionally updated),  a Coral reef compendium and an IQ compendium. (Both updated as news items come in).  GUN WATCH is now mainly put together by Dean Weingarten. I also put up occasional updates on my Personal blog and each day I gather together my most substantial current writings on THE PSYCHOLOGIST.

Email me  here (Hotmail address). My Home Pages are here (Academic) or  here (Pictorial) or  here  (Personal)

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