Tag: Elon Musk

15-28 The Big Beautiful Bill is the Beginning Not the End

15-28 The Big Beautiful Bill is the Beginning Not the End

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Show 15-28 Summary: Not to sound too much like Nancy Pelosi but now that the One Big Beautiful Bill passed, we know what’s in it. It was making a lot of people lose their minds perhaps because they didn’t understand the bill and what could or could not be in it. It’s clear they didn’t read it and listened to the wrong analysts. Which is why it will make people like Elon Musk and his very public temper tantrum look very foolish.

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Air Dates: July 12th & 13th, 2025 | Guest: Jonathan Williams

This Week – The Big Beautiful Bill Passed — Now What?

Nancy Pelosi famously said about Obamacare that “We have to pass it to find out what’s in it.” And now that we have the final version of the Big Beautiful Bill, we do know what’s in it.

But leading up to its final passage, it made a lot of people lose their minds. Legislators should know better but a lot of grassroots did not understand what a reconciliation bill was and how limited they are — just to budget items that affect federal spending or revenue. Which is why it could never be “the one bill” to accomplish everything America First that everyone wanted. So why didn’t the people who ought to have known better say that? Rather than try to sabotage it?

Perhaps they had their own agenda. And, as typical, they wanted something other than what they were saying.

Elon Musk — The Spoiled Kid in the Grocery Store

Spoiled brat Elon Musk throws temper tantrum over the One Big Beautiful Bill
click for full size

By definition, a reconciliation is limited. Not only in terms of what can or can’t be in it but also what budgetary items it can cut. It doesn’t take much to understand that. So someone as smart as Elon had to know that. Which implies then that he wanted something else. And his public shrieking tantrum was calculated. He had to know they couldn’t make the massive cuts he said he wanted. So it’s clear he either didn’t read the bill or listened to the wrong analysts. Or made the calculated move to get attention, blame people, and offer the solution. A third party with the goal to selectively to pick off vulnerable Republicans to be the key swing votes in Congress.

But Elon Musk’s temper tantrum gambit will look pretty foolish when the Big  Beautiful Bill succeeds. He’ll not only look like the spoiler but what he is. Spoiled.

How do we know? Hint: everyone was predicting the end of the economic world after Trump’s reciprocal tariffs. Now they’re admitting they were wrong.

The Big Beautiful Bill Reality

Now that the bill was passed and signed, the fury has died down—mostly—we welcome back Jonathan Williams, the president and chief economist at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to get some truth and reality about what was in it. No. It wasn’t perfect. Yes we would have liked more spending cuts.

But while the shrieking and tantruming was happening the detractors missed a key part of the bill. It codified 28 of Trump’s exectutive orders. They’re no longer executive orders, easily undone by the next president with a pen. Now they are law. And, even better, for those demanding more cuts, once the bill was passed and signed, President Trump used his executive power to rescind (cut) spending on key points. Like stopping the green energy credits and Global Warming spending. 

But. And here’s the biggest and most overlooked aspect of the Big Beautiful Bill. It doesn’t end here. It’s the beginning.

Did you feel the political ground under you shift? Because unlike so many other big gigantic bills, this was about cutting spending, cutting taxes, and cutting the size and scope of government. And some actual entitlement reforms. When is the last time that happened? Maybe in the 1990s with Newt Gingrich?

And this isn’t some deep red state doing it. This is Washington DC. And it’s just the beginning. There are already plans in the works for two more bills like it to make further cuts and to push more of the America First agenda.

And that’s why, with the Trump Train rolling, people like Elon Musk standing on the platform shrieking about what is not on the train  will look pretty foolish as the train pulls away without them.

Rich States, Poor States. Poor Oregon.

We  also talk with Jonathan about Oregon’s latest ranking in the 18th edition of Rich States, Poor States. Jonathan is one of its co-authors. For anyone who lives in Oregon, it will come as no surprise that we dropped one point from last year.

But Oregon made some recent economic bungles that have come to light? How bad would it have been for Oregon’s ranking if these had come to light before the latest edition had been released?

Related:
Show 15-23 with Jennifer Hamaker  – Oregon’s Climate Protection Plan’s planned devastation to Oregon’s economy — conveniently phased in after the 2026 election
Show 15-25 with Ed Diehl  Oregon’s HB2025, the ODOT tax bill, which would have been the biggest tax increase in Oregon’s history

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Show Notes: Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

  • Jonathan is the president and chief economist organization at American Legislative Exchange Council. Find out more at ALEC.org.
    • Encourage your representatives to join ALEC! There are state and city memberships. Help elected officials understand economic problems and the real solutions available to get out of them. Send them this link: https://alec.org/membership/.
    • And you too can join as a private-sector member!
    • Follow Jonathan on Twitter at @TaxEconomist.
  • Head to Rich States, Poor States to see how your state is doing.
  • See the list: Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill codifies 28 executive orders and actions
  • Steve Moore: Trump just scored the biggest conservative victory in three decades (Fox News, July 10, 2025)
    • “What isn’t well known is that this new law doesn’t just change tax policy. It includes dozens of other long-sought policy goals – what I call ‘hidden gems’.”
  • Conservatives say Trump won their megabill votes by promising crackdown on renewable energy credits (Politico, July 3, 2025)
    • “Hard-line House conservatives said President Donald Trump assured them his administration would take action to constrict wind or solar projects that qualify for Inflation Reduction Act tax credits — a pledge that ultimately persuaded them to back the party’s megabill.” → A promise kept with Trump’s rescission package.
  • Johnson says megabill will be ‘jet fuel’ for economy; teases 2 future bills within next year (Fox News, July 6, 2025)
    • Johnson said the BBB is just the first step in a three-tier strategy. Johnson expects a second reconciliation bill by fall and a third by spring before the end of the current Congress. “You’ll see more of us advancing these common-sense principles to deliver that American First agenda”
  • Trump says U.S. struck trade deal with Vietnam that imposes 20% tariff on its imports (CNBC, July 2, 2025)
  • U.S. Supreme Court Greenlights Trump’s Federal Government Purge (GWP, July 8, 2025)
  • Supreme Court allows Trump to implement plans (Scotusblog, June 8, 2025)
    • In an 8 to 1 ruling the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Clinton-appointed judge’s ruling that temporarily stopped Trump to do mass layoffs. Now his administration can immediately move forward

Sorry Democrats. The BBB Does NOT End Social Security

  • Social Security letter on taxes sends confusing message, some experts say (Washington Post, July 4, 2025)
  • Megabill does not eliminate taxes on Social Security — But it does increase the standard deduction for seniors.
    • Tax exemption for Social Security goes from 64 percent to 88 percent.
  • Does the “big, beautiful bill” eliminate taxes on Social Security? (CBS News, July 8, 2025)

The One Big Beautiful Bill is the Start, Not the End

Green Energy isn’t So Green Anymore

Funny how Global Warming believers suddenly change their beliefs when they aren’t paid to believe them any more.

Oregon’s Economic Outlook Not Looking Good

15-02 MEGA MAGA | Make Economics Great Again

15-02 MEGA MAGA | Make Economics Great Again

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Show 15-02 Summary: You can’t Make America Great Again without MEGA. Make Economics Great Again. This week we take a look at how the new Trump administration can make the economy great again. We do that with Jonathan Williams, the president and chief economist for the American Legislative Exchange Council. We look first at how stupid environmental policies in California have led to the disastrous Los Angeles wildfires. And we look at Trump’s tax plans. Can he really replace income taxes with tariffs? And we look forward to a more efficient government that absolutely must cut spending if we are ever going to get rid of the deficit to start cutting into the debt.

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Air Dates: January 11th & 12th, 2025 | Guest: Jonathan Williams

This Week – MEGA: Make Economics Great Again

One of the best things Trump’s MAGA can do is MEGA. Make Economics Great Again.

We welcome back Jonathan Williams, who was recently promoted to president over at ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC is all about developing good, common sense, sound policy that they help states implement.

We start our discussion with these stupid environmental policies in California that have led to the disastrous Los Angeles wildfires. The incompetent people in charge are trying to blame climate change for their stupid policies. In part, they are correct. Their religious belief in climate change led them to the stupid policy of not doing forest management.

Let’s be clear: IF you truly believe in climate change, and that the world is getting hotter and drier as a result of global warming, then you should be doing more forest management than ever. And not what the environmental left has been doing, which is nothing.

But of course stupid policies are not limited to California. Many of those stupid environmental policies along with hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer dollars spent on climate change, come from Washington DC.

Can Trump MEGA?

We talk with Jonathan Williams about what new policies are needed, and what old policies definitely need to go. How many of those environmental policies will be forced to go when the federal funding keeping them alive disappears? But what new, good policies are needed? And are there examples of good policies at the state level that ought to trickle up to the federal level?

And what about those taxes?

People forget that for most of America’s history, there was no income tax. And the federal government got most of its funding from tariffs. can trump really make that happen and replace the income tax with tariffs? Is that even feasible? well, it can’t happen unless there are some significant cuts to the budget, and we talk about that too.

Get informed about how MAGA can make MEGA really happen.

Well, lookee here:

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Show Notes: Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

Related/Further Information

  • Oregon, blue states rule top inflation states (Oregon Catalyst, Jan 7, 2025)
    • “The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis ranks Oregon as the eighth most expensive U.S. state to live in.”
  • The Good, the Bad, and the Uncertainty of the Trump Economy (Project Syndicate, Dec 31, 2024)
  • Not good when D’s aren’t even investing in Oregon.: “Arizona wins third and final federal semiconductor research hub; Oregon’s hopes dashed” (OPB, Jan 6, 2025); “Arizona wins last of 3 planned federal chip research sites” (OregonLive, Jan 6, 2025)
  • State regulators approve more electricity rate hikes for Oregonians in 2025 (The World, Jan 7, 2025)
    • Shouldn’t the policy be to provide the most power for the lowest price? If individuals or individual businesses want to buy solar or wind, they can. But don’t punish the average person.
  • Lawmakers propose pause on rate hikes (Capital Chronicle, Jan 7, 2025)

 

Wake up to woke sabotage
Woke Sabotage: A Path of Destruction on Purpose? Or Just Accidental?

Woke Sabotage: A Path of Destruction on Purpose? Or Just Accidental?

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Show Summary: We all know the Left’s ideology leaves a path of destruction wherever it goes. That’s why people flee Marxist countries on homemade rafts. The latest incarnation of Left ideology is collectively known as “woke” as they seek to enforce their vision of a socialist utopia on elements of American society. Like making race and gender a hiring criteria. Or pushing unlimited, anytime abortion, even “post birth abortion” (i.e., infanticide). But that wide swath of destruction. Is it on purpose or just accidental? It’s time to wake up about woke sabotage.

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Original Air Dates: July 16th & 17th, 2022 | Guests:  Donna Jackson & Ethan Peck

This Week – Woke Sabotage. It’s not an Accident

This week, it’s all about fighting woke policies and ideologies. We have two guests on from two different projects of the National Center for Public Policy Research. Donna Jackson from National Center’s Project 21 to talk about the impact Biden’s economic policies are having not just on Black communities but how the policies developed in democrat-run cities are now being unleashed on the rest of America to weaken us.

And she discusses Black pastors being paid to sabotage Black communities and lead them astray.

Mentioned in the opener: Milton Friedman’s “The Social Responsibility of Business”

Then we talk with first-time guest Ethan Peck about woke impacts in corporations. We talk about his experiences as the Free Enterprise Project attempted to present shareholder resolutions to block woke corporate policies. You won’t believe what happened when he was the only shareholder at the annual shareholder meeting of a woke corporation. And we talk Twitter as the prime example of woke corporations getting a pass from blatantly illegal acts simply because they’re woke. And we talk about how woke CEOs have fallen into a huge trap with their knee-jerk reactions to a post Roe v Wade world. Could they be an accessory to a crime?

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Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info