In God We Trust, in Government We Don’t, What Gaetz Gets Right & Trump’s $18 million Question – Top 3 Takeaways – October 3rd, 2023
- In God we trust. In government...not so much. Trust in our federal government has been low for an awfully long time. In fact, the most recent year a majority of Americans trusted the government “to do what is right just about always or most of the time” was in 2001 when 55% trusted President Bush to prosecute the War on Terror following 9-11. This is according to the Pew Research Center which has studied government trust since the 1950’s. But while government trust has been low for decades it’s never been as low as it is today. When President Biden took over the reins from President Trump only 24% of Americans generally trusted our government. But today, having nearly a quarter of the country place it’s faith in our federal government to do what’s right by us looks outright rosy compared to the record low 16% of Americans who still trust the government to do the right thing. That includes only 25% of Democrats who still place trust in our government's actions compared to just 8% of Republicans who still do. Having a healthy dose of skepticism when considering the actions of our federal government is healthy and is an exceedingly American thing to do. However, for our federal government to effectively have earned the trust of fewer than a fifth of Americans speaks volumes about the current state of our government. Many comparisons have been made between President Biden and former President Jimmy Carter, aka Captain Peanut. Perhaps one of the biggest tells as to how Joe Biden compares to the president who, until Biden, was widely viewed as the worst in modern American politics. Trust in government cratered under the Carter administration too, however at its lowest point 26% of the American people still trusted the federal government to do the right thing. Ronald Reagan’s nine most terrifying words have never been truer than they are today. As he said: The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help. We’re now at the point where about 84% of the American people agree. Which as an aside, presents a teachable moment. Here we are mired in budget/spending debates in Washington once again – which will potentially lead to another showdown in 42 days. Here’s a simple argument on behalf of less government spending. If you don’t trust the government, why would you want more of it? Putting faith in God is good. Having faith that the federal government will do the right thing with your tax dollars clearly isn’t. So...how about we try doing less of it for a change? Just a thought... There’s part of me that feels that there’s a “horse to water” moment here for a swath of persuadable voters. Speaking of which...
- What Gaetz gets right. Yesterday I spoke of respecting a vote against Saturday’s 45-day Continuing Resolution that continues federal government spending along an unsustainable path. At the same time, I mentioned that the effort to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was something I didn’t respect and couldn’t support. While Gaetz is marching down the path of attempting to oust the current House speaker by filing a motion to vacate – a move which has the potential for chaos up to and including Democrat Hakim Jefferies becoming the next House Speaker. Ironically, on Monday, the first contacts Gaetz made in his quest to rally support to his effort were Democrat Squad members AOC and Pramila Jayapal. AOC was quick to say she’d “absolutely” vote to oust McCarthy. Gaetz blasted McCarthy for negotiating with Democrats to create the CR, ironically his effort to oust McCarthy, if successful, would almost exclusively be done with Democrats supporting his measure. A majority of Republicans voted for the funding bill on Saturday. Not even 10% of House Republicans will vote to support McCarthy’s ouster. But what Gaetz does get right is what he penned in an op ed for Real Clear Politics. In attempting to justify his actions he said this: Moody’s chief economist recently said that the typical American household is spending $709 a month more than they were two years ago just to buy the same goods and services. That’s nearly $9,000 per year being stolen from Americans through the hidden tax of inflation. Americans literally cannot afford Washington’s reckless spending. Politicians in Washington DC - on both sides of the aisle - are robbing the American people and their grandchildren to pay for war in Ukraine, drag queen shows in Ecuador, an open border, free stuff for illegal immigrants, and the Biden Department of Justice’s illegal election interference. Yes, yes and yes. Gaetz nailed it. And yes, if you didn’t already know our out-of-control debt spending includes drag shows in Ecuador. If there’s one thing that’s better than taxpayer funded dudes in drag in this country, its taxpayer funded dudes in drag in Ecuador (The Biden Administration provided a $20,600 grant to do this last year). Gaetz gets the big picture right. But when the most enthusiastic supporter of your big plan is AOC...the getting there leaves something to be desired.
- The $18 million dollar question. There are a lot of ways in which you can attempt to infer what’s real and what’s politics in the New York civil trial of the former and perhaps future President of the United States. The trial in which Trump’s alleged to have inflated his net worth illegally by “billions” of dollars. But at the crux it can be exceedingly simple. Is Mar-a-Lago worth $18 million? As in is Mar-a-Lago only worth $18 million? Because that’s what the judge overseeing this case valued it at for the purpose of these proceedings. Yesterday during a break in the proceedings Trump said (referring to the judge): He said Mar-a-Lago is worth 18 million. It's worth at least a billion, maybe $1.5 billion. What this shows is that even in the trial about Trump’s allegedly inflated assets, Trump’s rhetorically inflating the value of his assets. Mar-a-Lago isn’t selling for a billion dollars – let alone $1.5. Conversely, on Palm Beach, $19 million is currently required to buy a 5-bedroom, 6,000 square foot home with only a quarter of an acre of land that’s not on the water. One might imagine that a 126 room, 62,500 square foot complex on 20 acres with the ocean bordering one side of the property and the intracoastal on the other – might – just barely might – be worth more than $1 million less than the previously mentioned property. What do you say? So, here’s what I know. However much Trump’s alleged to have inflated the value of his properties and potentially his overall net worth. This judge is demonstrably doing more to attempt to underinflate the value of his properties. The judge retains absolutely no credibility whatsoever, unless that is, that you want to make the case for why Mar-a-Lago is really only worth $18 million. Btw, I did a market analysis of the value yesterday. The most conservative value for Mar-a-Lago that could reasonably be applied in the current market is north of $300 million. The median market value for the property I came up with is $453.6 million. So, while Trump may have overinflated the value of his assets rhetorically and otherwise... The judge is doing even more to understate the value of them legally and otherwise.