Forgive me -- I know that there is a civil war of sorts brewing between "moderate" and "progressive" [sic] Democrats, but I can't take it seriously. They are going to reach a deal, because they are not going to lose the opportunity to spend trillions of dollars on their political donors and patrons. They are incompetent, which is why they failed to meet their own deadlines; and they are dishonest, which is why Joe Biden promised Republicans that the $1.2 trillion "infrastructure" bill excluded everything that he later included in the $3.5 trillion "reconciliation" bill. They are also radical, which is why Biden has now tacked his campaign slogan -- "build back better" -- onto the $3.5 trillion agenda, as if he had run as a socialist, which is what he actually turns out to be.
But none of this matters. We don't have $3.5 trillion, or even $1.2 trillion, to spend. Democrats are claiming that the bill will cost net "zero," which is absurd, and shows just how little they care about "truth over lies," another Biden slogan. The idea seems to be that taxing billionaires and "trillionaires" (we have none of the latter) can cover the cost, somehow. But even if raising taxes on the rich could, theoretically bring in something like several hundred billion dollars -- at best, if you assume economic growth (which is slowing down) and minimal tax avoidance by high earners (ha ha ha -- just ask Biden about filing as an S-corp to avoid paying his "fair share." ) -- we still won't cover $3.5 trillion. We won't even manage to do it if we raise taxes on the middle class (inevitable).
This is just a debate about how much debt to leave to future generations -- or how quickly to push us toward default. For Democrats, it's worth it: the goal is to hook the population on entitlements that will be too politically difficult to remove, so that when default does come, its own constituencies are protected and it's the private sector that has to pay the price. Of course, once the private sector can't produce, there's less revenue... see also, almost the entire Third World, and the history of socialism everywhere that it has been tried.
This is my first broadcast from the new office and studio in Washington, DC, where I'll be for a couple of years my neighborhood back in L.A. cleans up -- and as we follow the Trump administration from a little closer up than usual.
Topics:
- The anniversary of the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump
- The escalating tariff battle with various different trading partners
- The future of the Middle East peace talks, and ongoing antisemitism
- The Jeffrey Epstein files and whether they mean anything at all
- The continued crisis of the Texas floods, and stories of heroism and survival
And more!
Special guests:
- James Rosen - Newsmax chief Washington correspondent
- Bob Price - Breitbart News Texas reporter, on the ongoing floods
- Robert Cahill - Trafalgar Polling, on a new alliance of reliable pollsters
- Rabbi Yaakov Menken - Coalition for Jewish Values - on Israel & antisemitism
Tune in: 7-10 p.m. ET, 4-7 p.m. PT
Call: 866-957-2874
This week’s portion tells the grand story of the prophet who tried to curse people of Israel and instead ended up blessing them.
I am reminded that these portions continue to be relevant anew, as this particular reading lent the title for Israel’s recent 12 Day War against Iran, “Operation Rising Lion.”
This week's portion includes the commandment of the red heifer -- one of the classic "irrational" commandments whose fulfillment is an expression of faith. It also includes the regrettable episode in which Moses strikes the rock.
I referred to this story in a wedding speech last night. Why was Moses punished for striking the rock in Numbers, when he struck the rock without incident in Exodus -- both for the purpose of providing water to the people?
The answer is that in the interim, the Jewish people had received the Torah, which is like the marriage contract between the people of Israel and God. In a marriage, you do not resolve things by breaking boundaries, but through love.
The additional reading, from Judges Chapter 11, is the story of Jephthah (Yiftach), a man whom the leaders spurn, but to whom they must turn to save the nation. The parallels to our present political circumstances are striking.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Fourth of July!
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