Tea at Trianon: A Brawling Businessman for America

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, July 21, 2019

A Brawling Businessman for America

From Godfather Politics:

President Trump has proven he is a brawling businessman for America. President Trump’s viewpoints have not changed, for the most part, in over 30 years. When he entered the Presidential race, he told the American people what he was going to do, and he has relentlessly brawled with the political establishment to keep his promises to the American people.

For far too long, America had been run by the political establishment and influenced by the wealthy donors who sought to shape governmental policy in their favor. When President Trump ran, he knew there wasn’t anybody who could control him, the political establishment knew that as well . The political establishment fought hard to block his nomination, and ultimately, his election victory.

Blue collar workers, white collar workers, former Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, selected Donald Trump to be their President. Our Founding Fathers created the electoral college to give all states a say in who they wanted to represent all of America, not just the highest populated sections of the country. Van Hipp, the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Army, made an interesting statement in his “America needs more Harry Truman Democrats” oped. Van correctly pointed out, that our elected officials used to pass laws and implement policies that were in the best interest of the American people, not what was in the best interest of the party. (Read more.)

From Real Clear Politics:

By almost every economic measure, women are flourishing in today's economy. Female unemployment is currently at a 50-year low of 3.9 percent, less than half the rate it was as recently as President Obama's second term. This summer, the female unemployment rate reached its lowest level in 65 years. When you consider how small the female labor force was back then, it's safe to say it's never been easier for a woman to find a job than it is today.

Women are also leaving the labor market sidelines to return to the workforce in droves. Prime-age female employment has increased by 1 million since November 2016. This year, the prime-age female employment rate finally returned to its pre-Great Recession level.

While male wages have stagnated in recent decades (with the exception of the past couple of years), women's have increased markedly. Women are 15 percent more likely than men to have a college degree, and that spread increases among recent graduates.

The number of women-owned businesses has grown by 114 percent over the past 20 years compared to just 44 percent overall. There are an estimated 11.6 million women-owned businesses, about 40 percent of the total businesses in the country.

Yet entrepreneurship has historically been an area where women have lagged. According to a report by the Kauffman Foundation, women are half as likely as men to start a business. This artificially depresses economic vibrancy. At the same time, the report argues that women may actually be better entrepreneurs because they are more prudent risk takers, knowing when to take advantage of opportunities, but avoiding "foolhardy risks" that often trip up their male counterparts.

Kauffman points to a major hurdle to greater female entrepreneurship: child care. It suggests that child-care burdens swamp female entrepreneurship opportunities in a way that they do not for men. It argues that if public policy could help overcome such challenges, women would "unleash a wealth of ingenuity and creativity that can spark a new era of entrepreneur-led growth in America."

Such public policy took effect this year in the form of tax cuts. A central component of the tax cuts is a doubling of the child tax credit to $2,000 per child. This is not a deduction but a direct tax bill offset, meaning a mother with two kids will save $4,000 as a result. The tax legislation also makes the first $1,400 of this credit refundable, meaning that low-income mothers actually get a payout in addition to their regular tax refund. It also creates a tax credit for non-dependent children -- think college-aged -- for the first time. (Read more.)