Month: December 2025

TRUMP SAVINGS ACCOUNTS AND OTHER ECONOMIC MATTERS

President Trump has been responsible for a myriad of accomplishments in his short tenure, for example, closing the border, deporting illegal immigrants, reducing crime in cities that welcomed his assistance, passing the “Big Beautiful Bill (the effects of which will kick in commencing in 2026), reducing inflation, and eliminating Iran’s nuclear capabilities, among others.

To be sure, those accomplishments are laudable, however, a large portion of the electorate is still dissatisfied with the state of the economy, particularly the rate of inflation, the price of gas, the cost of healthcare and the unaffordability of buying a first home. Home ownership is and always has been an endemic part of the “American Dream.” Since Trump is the president, rightly or wrongly, most of them are blaming him.

According to the latest Economist/YouGov survey despite all of the above positives President Trump’s approval rating has been in a steady decline for the last seven weeks. His latest approval rating was 38%, and his disapproval rating was 57%. The latest Reuters/Ipsos survey yielded similar results. Even more ominous the same polls disclosed that 55% of the respondents were more likely to vote for the Democrat candidate in their district, compared to 41% who said they would vote for the Republican candidate. This does not augur well for Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections. If they lose control of the legislature Trump’s ambitious agenda is likely to be thwarted.

Also, history is not on his side. Normally, the party in power loses a goodly number of House and Senate seats in the off-year elections.

Of course, Trump is cognizant of all that. Consequently, he is beginning to focus more on the economy. Historically, absent a monumental catastrophe, such as a world war or a 9-11 style terror attack, the most important issue to voters is always the economy. Yes, people care about other issues such as crime, healthcare, security and immigration, but they care more about a good job, the cost of food, being able to afford a nice place to live, supporting their family, the cost of gas, the cost of healthcare, their retirement, and their children’s and grandchildren’s future. Hence, the well-worn expression: “It’s the economy, stupid!”

Below please find some of the recent Trump initiatives regarding the aforementioned, which are designed to lower the cost of living and enhance the quality of life for all Americans. Some of these are already in process; others are just proposals, some of which may require the approval of Congress.

  1. Ramping up drilling for oil and gas, which, due to the fundamental law of supply and demand, should lower the prices of fuel both in the home and at the pump. Lower energy prices lead to lower prices on all goods and services, most notably food. According to AAA the national average of a gallon of regular gas at the pump is $2.999.  Of course, this will vary from state to state depending on state and local taxes and other factors. By comparison, according to the US Energy Information Administration the cost in 2022 and 2023, the last two years of the Biden Administration, was $3.52 and $3.95, respectively. In my view, Biden’s woke, green energy policies drove prices up, whereas Trump’s “drill baby drill” policy is driving them down. Therefore, it is unfair to blame the current cost of energy on Trump.  According to the more recent data available (“blue woke”) California has the highest average gas price at around $4.65 per gallon for regular, while (“red”) Oklahoma has the lowest at approximately $2.53 per gallon.  Make of that what you will.
  2. For most social security recipients one of the provisions of the “Big Beautiful Bill” will enable them to offset their federal income tax liability with a special federal income tax deduction.
  3. The BBB also authorizes the creation of the so-called “Trump Accounts,” which essentially are a tax-deferred investment account for qualifying newborns into which the Treasury Department of the federal government will deposit $1,000. The account will grow tax-deferred until the newborn turns 18. Then, the account will function as a traditional IRA. Briefly, to qualify babies must have been born to American citizens from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2028 and have a valid social security number. In addition, the Dell family has pledged to utilize the “Trump Accounts” infrastructure to give $250 to each qualified child under 11. These initiatives are designed to encourage American citizen families to have babies by easing the financial burden of raising a family and helping to provide for them as they grow into adulthood. (For various reasons many families are postponing having children or deciding not to at all.)
  4. The BBB extended the 2017 “Trump Tax Cuts,” which will provide massive federal tax cuts for most taxpayers.
  5.  The so-called “Trump Tariffs” have been very controversial. The question is are they currently and will they prospectively have a positive or negative effect on the economy? Recent studies indicate that generally the impact of tariffs is to raise prices and reduce available quantities of goods and services for US businesses and consumers in the short run. According to the Tax Foundation the Trump tariffs will equate to an average tax increase of $1,100 per US household in 2025. On the other hand, the Trump tariffs, both threatened and imposed, have forced other countries who had been taking advantage of us in international trade for many years to lower their own tariffs substantially. Furthermore, the tariffs have been raising tens of billions, some claim trillions, of dollars for the federal government. Perhaps, more significantly, many foreign companies have invested or pledged to invest trillions of dollars to build or expand their businesses and/or build new factories in the US in order to avoid these tariffs. This will translate into good, high-paying permanent jobs and reduce the unemployment rate, which is currently slightly up at 4.4%. In summary, are these tariffs good or bad? In my opinion, it is still too early to tell. It may take years to determine. At the of risk oversimplifying matters I believe the answer is probably predicated on whether one is pro-Trump or anti-Trump.

Conclusion

As I said above, Trump is cognizant of the voters’ concerns regarding the economy. Accordingly, he has and will continue to develop policies to improve it. Many, if not most, of the problems with respect to the economy are holdovers from the Biden Administration and his woke/green policies. Data shows the economy is improving. Inflation is down. Gas is down. The positive impact of the BBB should be effective starting in 2026. The question is will the voters give Trump’s policies time to work or not.

The cost of healthcare remains a thorny, complicated and highly politicized problem that Trump and the Congress will have to address together. One can only hope that they resolve it expeditiously.

White House: Trump




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MURDEROUS ATTACK ON NATIONAL GUARD PERSONNEL

The following is based on a compendium of media reports and my own opinion where indicated.

It was inevitable. It was only a matter of time. It was just a question of who, where, when and how many. Of course, I’m referring to an unprovoked, premeditated, murderous terror attack by an improperly vetted alien on two US National Guard personnel while they were in legal performance of their assigned duties. One, Sarah Beckstrom, subsequently died from her injuries; as I write this, the other one, Andrew Wolfe, remains in critical condition.

As most of you know, the National Guard was deployed to the nation’s capital as part of Trump’s federal takeover of the city and crime crackdown in August. All indications are that this initiative was working as crime has declined dramatically. Even Muriel Bowser, the Dem mayor of DC, had praised the program. According to the most recent update, there were 2,188 National Guard personnel assigned to D.C.

According to multiple media accounts the perpetrator, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national, allegedly drove from Washington State to Washington, DC specifically to target Guard members. Film footage from the crime scene revealed that he “barreled around the corner” and just commenced firing on the victims with a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver. Washington DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro reported that he attacked “without provocation, ambush style,” struck one of the victims, leaned over and shot the individual again, before firing at the other National Guard member “several times.” The shooting took place around 2:15 p.m. last Wednesday near the Farragut West Metro station. As I write this there is no known motive. Due to the heinous nature of this crime Attorney General Pam Bondi and Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro have both vowed to seek the death penalty. I concur.

According to various law enforcement sources Lakanwal entered the United States in 2021 under the Biden Administration’s “Operation Allies Welcome Program.” FBI Director Kash Patel noted that the FBI received confirmation from the Department of Defense and CIA “that the subject had a relationship in Afghanistan with partner forces,” which enabled him to enter the United States in 2021 under that program.

CIA Director John Radcliffe asserted that nevertheless Lavanthal “should never been allowed to come here.” Kristi Noem opined that at some point he became radicalized, and some media outlets have speculated he may have become afflicted with PTSD, which fueled his rage.

He applied for asylum and was granted it in April 2024 under the Trump Administration. According to multiple reports “he was vetted, and the vetting came back clean.” He has a wife, five children and a brother in the U.S. Apparently, he has been unable to find employment because he had an expired work permit. Moreover, he had become more isolated the past few months, could not pay rent or afford food, was relying on others for help and was growing desperate.

For years many of us have been warning that Biden’s lax open border policy had enabled millions of illegal and/or improperly vetted aliens into the country. We don’t know how many, but some people put the number as high as 18 million. In many cases we don’t know who they are, where they are, and their intent. As I have denoted in previous blogs this policy exhibited absolutely no regard for the safety and security of American citizens. It was part of a broader policy that favored illegal immigrants over American citizens. Furthermore, it has had and will continue to have far-reaching negative ramifications on Americans politically, militarily, economically and socially.

Beckstrom was a native of a small town in WVA. According to friends she enlisted in the NG because she wanted to serve her country, help people, and gain experience to enable her to attain her long-term goal of joining the FBI. By all accounts she was a good person who in the words of her ex-boyfriend would “do anything for anyone who needed it.” Her mother described her as having “a heart of gold.” Attorney General Pam Bondi, commented that she could have gone home for the TG holiday, but she volunteered to remain in DC “so others could be home with their families.”

In the wake of this heinous crime the US is re-examining the entire aliens’ vetting process. In my opinion this is long overdue. It is apparent that the vetting of aliens has been incomplete and unreliable. More on this later.

The NY Post reported that of the thousands of aliens who were allowed to enter into the US under the expedited processing required by the Program, DHS investigations have now discovered “potential derogatory information” relating to national security, “public safety,” “fraud” and inclusion on “watch lists” with respect to 6,800 or more of them. This is unacceptable and calls into question the veracity of the entire vetting process. According to the NY Post former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker asserted that “you have to have an analyst, or an agent look at every doggone one of them and do it critically and set some objective criteria for disqualification.” It should be noted that Trump opined it was “virtually impossible” to deport people who arrived under the aforementioned Program.

US Senator Chuck Grassley has long been a critic of this process and has denoted various “red flags.” He received no cooperation from Biden Administration officials, but Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been providing Grassley with the information requested.

Part of the problem is the difficulty of obtaining complete and accurate information. This is often exacerbated by the huge influx of applicants as happened with the sudden collapse of Afghanistan. You may recall that the US withdrawal was totally botched.

Additionally, asylum seekers have not been subjected to any periodic updates. Applicants who seem to be all right initially can become radicalized after they enter the US. That seems to have been the case with Lavanthal.

Conclusion

One should not ignore or downplay the effect that the irresponsible rhetoric emanating from the left (in particular the “Seditious Six”) and their allies in the media has had in fomenting violence. As we have seen with the assassination attempts on Trump, the murder of Charlie Kirk, and several other instances unstable persons like Lavanthal are particularly susceptible to being influenced.

Trump has initiated prompt and decisive action. (1) He has “stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols” any immigration requests “relating to Afghan nationals.” (2) He has ordered a review of all asylum vettings approved by the Biden Administration. (3) He has authorized a “sweeping review” of the millions of green card holders from 19 countries, which have been deemed security risks. US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow announced that his department “has halted all asylum decisions until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible. The safety of the American people always comes first.”

These actions will affect the lives of millions of asylum applicants and green card holders the majority of which are not problematic. It will likely engender complaints and even accusations of bias and racism, but I maintain they are long overdue. It is a shame that a good person had to die beforehand.

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