STATE OF THE NATION - CounterStrikeMedia

PERSONAL SUCCESS IS A SEQUENCE? & CHART OF THE CENTURY ON PRICE CHANGES

1/10/2019

Chart of the day . . . or century?
Mark J. Perry | AEIdeas

Success is not a sequence

Brent Orrell | AEIdeas

The “success sequence” — the argument that avoiding poverty depends on graduating from high school, getting a full-time job, and marrying before having children — is enjoying a minor resurgence in policy circles of late.

RED & BLUE ELITES SEEK TO DISCREDIT TRUMP'S ECONOMY EVEN WITH SURGING EMPLOYMENT

1/8/2019

Why 70 Percent Tax Rates Cannot Finance Socialism
Brian Riedl, National Review

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s call for a 70 percent income-tax rate to finance green-energy initiatives has energized the Left. Yet this is completely destructive proposal. A 70 percent tax bracket would raise very little (if any) revenue, while damaging the economy and sending income and jobs overseas. While details of Ocasio-Cortez’s energy proposal are unavailable, former Green-party presidential candidate Jill Stein has proposed a “Green New Deal” costing between $700 billion and $1 trillion per year for public jobs and clean energy initiatives. That is roughly 4 percent of GDP. Read more here....

GUNS 'N BIBLES: THE FRUSTRATION OF TRUMP'S DEPLORABLES?? & PAYING BROKEN PENSIONS, FIXING SOCIAL SECURITY

1/3/2019

Economic shocks and clinging

Michael R. Strain and Stan Veuger | AEI Economics Working Paper Series

During his first campaign for president, Barack Obama was criticized when he argued that residents of towns with poor local labor markets “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustration.” Michael Strain and Stan Veuger test empirically whether this is the case.

Policy Briefs: Josh Rauh Warns Why Taxpayers Will Have To Bail Out Public Pensions
by Joshua D. Rauh via PolicyEd
State and local governments are claiming that they’re running balanced budgets, when in reality they’re relying on future investment returns to pay for pension benefits to retirees.

Increased Workforce Participation Alone Won’t Fix Social Security Finances
Charles Blahous, E21

Last month, Morgan Stanley published a research report projecting that US labor force growth will exceed Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections starting in the 2020s, and also asserting that this faster growth “should” delay Social Security’s insolvency, “perhaps by decades.” Specifically, the report stated that “a faster increase in the pool of covered workers is an important factor in the Social Security Trustees’ ‘low cost’ scenario, which would delay the date at which the Social Security trust fund reserves could become depleted from 2034 to 2062.” Read more here....

TRENDS IN ELECTORAL POLITICS FOR 2020: HENRY OLSON

12/28/2018

ROMNEY'S OP-ED EXPLAINS WHY HE'S NOT PRESIDENT
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How the GOP Might Win in 2020 (The Washington Post)
What Did the Midterms Reveal? A Divided America (The Guardian)
Target 2020: the Independent Male Voter (City Journal)
The Blue Wall (National Review)

GETTING HEATH CARE RIGHT & THE DANGEROUS STATE OF US CORPORATE DEBT

12/23/2018

The Biggest Emerging Market Debt Problem Is in America
Carmen Reinhart thinks conditions are ripe for a global crisis stemming from high issuance of corporate collateralized loan obligations.

Health Insurance
by Scott W. Atlas, Michael J. Boskin, Tom Church, John H. Cochrane , John F. Cogan, Daniel Heil, Daniel P. Kessler, John B. Taylor via PolicyEd
Health insurance helps many Americans purchase health care. So why is it so expensive, and how can we make it more affordable?

Transformational Health Care Reform
by Scott W. Atlas via PolicyEd
The American health care system is on an unsustainable path characterized by government-dominated insurance. Fixing health care begins with changing the incentives and empowering consumers to seek value with their money, while increasing competition among providers. Liberalized HSAs, insurance with lower premiums and fewer mandates, and more options for Medicare and Medicaid enrollees will improve access, choice, and quality of health care.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation has too much power
Joseph Antos and James C. Capretta | RealClearPolicy
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation’s authority is so broad that little is beyond its potential reach.

THE STATE OF THE AMERICAN LEFT & STATE PENSION BLOWOUT, THE VIEW

12/23/2018

Our Exhausted American Mediocracy
by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness
The unlikely 2016 election of Donald Trump—the first president without either prior political or military office—was a repudiation of the American “aristocracy.” By “rule of the best” I mean the ancien régime was no longer understood to suggest wealth and birth (alone), but instead envisioned itself as a supposed national meritocracy of those with proper degrees, and long service in the top hierarchies of government, media, blue-chip law firms, Wall Street, high tech, and academia.

The Burden Of Public Pension Promises On State And Local Budgets
by Joshua D. Rauh, Daniel Bergstresser via EconoFact
Unfunded pension liabilities represent a significant challenge to the finances of many state and local governments. While no analysts dispute the general statement that pensions are underfunded in aggregate, there has been some discussion about how to estimate the magnitude of the gap.

Part I: Will left-wing anti-Zionists and anti-Semites in America succeed in hollowing out the traditional liberal left in the United States, as they have in Britain and France?

Part II: Michael Walzer's critique of Leftist "inwardness" and the ways in which Bernie Sanders has succeeded in setting a different course.

Part III: How the late Richard Rorty foresaw the Trumpian moment and how he also envisioned a way out of it.
James Bloodworth: The dueling visions of Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders

Alexander Zubatov: Just because anti-Semities talk about 'cultural Marxism' doesn't mean it isn't real

Cathy Young: The current revival of Communist-inspired politics and where it could lead

Tim Shenk: Is there anyone who still believes that America is great because it is good?

Aaron Maté: Israel, not Jeremy Corbyn, is the real threat to the Jewish Left

Emily Benedek: The charismatic female stars of the new American Left

Paul Berman: The last word

SKILLS FOR The 21ST CENTURY & why MILLENNIALS remain poor

12/18/2018

Skills for the 21st century
Brent Orrell | AEIdeas
There are no simple either-or propositions in the labor market future. Educators at all levels should focus on teaching certain noncognitive skills while continuing to foster narrower, in-demand technical skills that are connected to immediate employment opportunities.

Why Millennials Are Poorer Than Other Generations
Ryan McMaken, CapX

5 charts on the economic gaps between urban and rural America
James Pethokoukis | AEIdeas

EXAMINING THE ROLE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CONCERNING GM

12/9/2018

HOW US ECONOMY IS BOOMING AND FADING, THE BEST PLACES TO START A BUSINESS & EXAMINING LEFT BEHIND IN AMERICA

12/7/2018

America’s Economy Is Both Booming—and Fading
Oren Cass, Washington Post

Populism, economic nostalgia, and ‘left behind’ America
James Pethokoukis | AEIdeas

DEFEATING THE SWAMP: MOVING ALL FEDERAL EXECUTIVE AGENCIES INTO FLYOVER COUNTRY

12/7/2018

TAX THE RICH DELUSION

12/5/2018

The ‘Tax the Rich’ Delusion of the Democratic Left
Brian Riedl, Daily Beast

The Democrats’ incoming House majority—and its Senate caucus of presidential wannabes—are about to face fiscal reality. When confronted with how to pay for their extraordinarily expensive policy agenda, the answer of liberal lawmakers, analysts, and advocates is nearly always the same: tax the rich. How to close the $12 trillion baseline budget deficit over the next decade (a figure that already assumes the 2017 tax cuts expire)? Tax the rich. Read more here....

The Best Argument Against Minimum Wage Laws
Tom Mullen, FEE

BEST, WORST AMERICAN CITIES TO BUY A HOME & HOW TO LOWER THE COST OF HEALTH CARE

12/4/2018

The best and worst metros for first-time homebuyers
Edward J. Pinto and Tobias Peter | American Enterprise Institute
AEI scholars Edward Pinto and Tobias Peter calculate the median home-price-to-income ratio for the 50 largest metropolitan areas.

Perspectives On Policy: Lowering The Cost Of Health Care
by Scott W. Atlas via PolicyEd
Broad access to quality health care starts with making it less expensive through increased competition and eliminating harmful regulations.

EXAMINING THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE FEMALE PAY GAP & MEANINGLESS WORK IN AMERICA

12/4/2018

Women Make Much Less Than 80 Cents to Men’s Dollar – Anna North, Vox
New Study Twists Statistics – Carrie Lukas, National Review

Do meaningless jobs exist in America?
Aparna Mathur | Forbes
A recent book claims 40 percent of jobs are meaningless. But a closer look at the data reveals quite a different picture of American job satisfaction. While yes, it is certainly plausible that some people with a job find their work meaningless, it is a far better situation to have to deal with than lack of work and decent incomes.

THE GEOGRAPHY OF START UPS & FUSIONISM FOR THE GOP

12/1/2018

How the Geography of Startups and Innovation Is Changing
Richard Florida & Ian Hathaway, Harvard Business Review

Fusionism today
Jonah Goldberg | National Review

WHAT HAPPENED AT GM & A REVIEW OF WORK IN AN AGE OF UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME

11/30/2018

Re: The Roots of American Working-Class Discontent
Oren Cass, National Review

STEVEN MALANGA
Destroyed for Nothing
The closing of GM’s Detroit plant—erected at the expense of a vibrant urban neighborhood—is a final twist of the knife in a tale of displacement and destruction.

The Hard Road to Conservative Reform
Should a post-Trump conservative politics seek to learn something from his ascent or simply aim to repudiate him?

Growth and Work
“Over the past few days, a very interesting and worthwhile debate has arisen among several thoughtful conservatives about growth, work, and prosperity. The occasion for it has been Oren Cass’s new book, The Once and Future Worker and its argument that work, and not just wealth, is a vital measure of well-being, and one on which our society has been falling short.”
By Yuval Levin
National Review Online
November 27, 2018

Growth for Whose Sake?
There’s more to life than rising consumption.
By Oren Cass
City Journal Online
November 26, 2018

What the Working Class Is Still Trying to Tell Us
“Working-class voters tried to send a message in 2016, and they are still trying to send it. The crucial question is whether America’s leaders will listen and respond. One way to start doing that is to read Oren Cass’s absolutely brilliant new book, ‘The Once and Future Worker.’”
By David Brooks
The New York Times
November 9, 2018

Conservatives and the Politics of Work
“Since election night 2016, liberal pundits have debated whether Donald Trump won because of ‘economic anxiety’ or ‘cultural resentment.’ According to Oren Cass, ‘these aren’t different things.’ The real issue, the Manhattan Institute scholar says, is work.”
By Jason Willick
The Wall Street Journal
November 23, 2018

Economic Piety Is a Crisis for Workers
Government policy should emphasize production, not consumption.
By Oren Cass
The Atlantic
November 27, 2018

A NEW CIVIL WAR RAGES & HOW TO SAVE SOCIAL SECURITY

11/26/2018

How To Save Social Security Systems
by Martin Feldstein via Project Syndicate
Providing benefits to support a comfortable standard of living for retirees with just a modest rate of tax on the working population depends on there being a small number of pensioners relative to the number of taxpayers. That is no longer the case.

The Republican Workers Party: How the Trump Victory Drove Everyone Crazy, and Why It Was Just What We Needed by F.H. Buckley (Author)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1641770066/ref=dbsadefrwtbiblvppii0

Soul of a Democrat: The Seven Core Ideals That Made Our Party - And Our Country - Great by Thomas B. Reston
https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Democrat-Seven-Ideals-Country-ebook/dp/B0776Z7ZKL/ref=sr11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1542943402&sr=1-1&keywords=Thomas+B.+Reston

WHY '68 MATTERS

11/26/2018

Did 1968 Win The Culture War?
by Victor Davis Hanson via National Review
The political and cultural agenda from that turbulent period has long been institutionalized.

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THE SUPPLY SIDERS RETURN

11/23/2018

AFTER THE MIDTERM MASSACRE

11/7/2018

Who’s to blame? Weak leaders, weak institutions, weak voters?
Michael Barone | Washington Examiner

FOX NEWS

The Economy, The Midterms, and the Road Ahead
Irwin Stelzer, Weekly Standard

EPPC: THE RINO'S TAKE THEIR REVENGE

What the Midterms Mean for National Security
// Katie Bo Williams
House Democrats are poised to boost oversight of the Pentagon — and its commander-in-chief.

America's Place in the World Was on the Ballot. It Lost.
// Kevin Baron
Barely a word was heard about America's fading claims to global leadership, or its wars and operations around the globe.

Lower House Poised to Take Upper Hand on National Security
// Brent Colburn
Where are Congress' new foreign-policy leaders? Look to the House's recently elected veterans and natsec pros.

What the Working Class Is Still Trying to Tell Us
David Brooks, New York Times

I was ready for massive Democratic turnout for the election on Tuesday. But I was surprised how massive the Republican turnout was in response. The Republicans who flooded to the polls weren’t college-educated suburbanites. Those people voted for Democrats this year. They weren’t tax-cut fanatics. Half of the Republican members of the House Ways and Means Committee either left Congress, ran for other offices or were defeated. They weren’t even small-government Republicans. Read more here....

NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE: RISING INTEREST RATES EXACERBATES FED BUDGETS, DEBT SERVICING & DIFFERENCES BETWEEN RED-BLUE STATES BORROWING

11/3/2018

Rising interest rates could add to budget woes
James C. Capretta | RealClearPolicy

As the federal government closed its books on fiscal year 2018 at the end of September, interest rates were rising to levels not seen in a decade, signaling the possibility of further deterioration in the budget outlook for 2019 and beyond. James Capretta argues that the past year has been positive for the US economy but a step in the wrong direction for fiscal policy. As economic growth accelerates and the Fed tightens monetary policy, interest rates are beginning to resemble what they were before the financial crisis. Capretta believes that if current trends continue, the federal government will be forced to pay higher interest rates on borrowed funds, and budget deficits will widen accordingly. Now is exactly the right time to restrain projected deficits with reforms of government programs.

5 questions for James Capretta on Medicare, Social Security, and the national debt
James Pethokoukis and James C. Capretta | AEIdeas

Bolton: National Debt ‘Threat to the Society,’ Forcing DoD Spending to ‘Flatten Out’
By Joe Gould, Defense News: “White House national security adviser John Bolton called the national debt “a threat to the society” and said Pentagon spending will “flatten out” in the near term.”

The Red/Blue Divide in State Borrowing
Steven Malanga, City Journal

The Little-Known Fact That Will Make the National Debt Even Harder to Tackle
Dennis Jansen & Thomas Saving, E21

The federal government is skirting dangerous shoals with an irresponsible fiscal policy. We are running massive budget deficits in a booming peacetime economy. These deficits are increasing our federal debt—which means we are also paying more to service the debt and more interest on every dollar of debt. While the Federal Reserve has been covering a significant portion of those servicing costs since the debt started ballooning in 2007, Fed revenues are declining, so it won’t be able to shoulder as much of that burden. The result will be more pressure on Congress to put our fiscal house in order. Read more here....

CITIZENSHIP PENUMBRAS & A RED NYS IN 2018

10/31/2018

Trump Errs On the 14th Amendment By SETH LIPSKY, From the New York Post | October 31, 2018
https://www.nysun.com/national/trump-errs-on-birthright-citizenship/90446/

Citizenship's Penumbras Editorial of The New York Sun | October 31, 2018
https://www.nysun.com/editorials/citizenships-penumbras/90447/

Invisible Upstate
The vast region of New York north of the Bronx has largely gone missing in the gubernatorial campaign.

HOW TO RESOLVE THE MULTI-EMPLOYER PENSION CRISIS, WHY NATIONAL DEBT GROWS & WHY MEDICARE REFORM HAS NO CONSTITUENCY

10/29/2018

The National Debt Continues to Balloon
Eric Boehm, Reason

Averting The Multiemployer Pension Solvency Crisis
by Charles Blahous via Mercatus Center
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) multiemployer pension insurance program faces projected insolvency, driven by systemic underfunding of multiemployer pension plans. To address this brewing crisis, Congress has established a joint select committee to develop multiemployer pension reforms.

Medicare reform has no constituency
Jay Cost | NationalReview.com

TRUMP'S ECONOMY LEADS THE PLANET, WHY? BECAUSE OF THE FREEDOM EDGE

10/24/2018

Trump Doctrine Is Starting To Come Into Focus
By CONRAD BLACK, Special to the Sun
October 26, 2018
https://www.nysun.com/foreign/trump-doctrine-is-starting-to-emerge/90442/

One Nation, Two Economies
Joel Kotkin, City Journal

Who Deserves Credit for the Strong US Economy?
Michael Boskin, Project Syndicate

Falling Share Prices And The Outlook For The US Economy
by Martin Feldstein via Project Syndicate
Three forces will cause US long-term interest rates to continue to rise. But, in all likelihood, short-term rates will not increase fast enough to give the Federal Reserve sufficient room for monetary stimulus before the next economic downturn begins.

THE 4TH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

10/20/2018

http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GCR2018/05FullReport/TheGlobalCompetitivenessReport2018.pdf?mod=article_inline

WHY US RELIES ON RUSSIAN MADE ROCKETS

10/13/2018