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SORRY, NEW YORKERS, BUT YOU DID THIS TO YOURSELVES

Today, March 21, 2019
Today, March 21, 2019

A recent article in a Beltway publication warned about a potential recession and considered how it might affect President Trump’s chances at re-election. The story began—no joke: “The luxury real estate market in Manhattan is sagging.”

It goes on to argue that softening in the real-estate market in high-tax Northeastern states is caused by the 2017 tax-reform law. Thus the claim is that because taxpayers can deduct only $10,000 in state and local taxes from their federal returns, America is heading for a recession.

Nonsense.

The tax-reform law stops high-tax states from burdening the rest of us with their irresponsible decisions. America is a marketplace where states are competing with each other, and New York is losing. Their loss is Florida’s gain—and Texas’ and South Carolina’s and Ohio’s and Indiana’s.

I would like to tell New Yorkers on behalf of the rest of America that our hearts go out to you for your sagging luxury real-estate market. But you did this to yourself, and you can fix it yourself. If you cut taxes and make state and local government efficient, maybe you can compete with Florida again.

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MAKE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS LIKE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AUDITIONS

symphony-orchestraWhen classical musicians audition for a symphony orchestra, they play behind a screen.  They are completely anonymous to the committee on the other side of it, who knows them only by a number.  They are prohibited from speaking to the committee.

Prior to the audition, the musician is given a list of classical repertoire pieces from which he or she will be asked to play a number of excerpts, anywhere from one to three minutes of each selection.  The selections of music will vary depending on the player's instrument.

This process is one of the fairest on the planet.  Not the age, sex, or race of the player is known to the committee who will be deciding which musicians will be chosen.  Candidates are selected on expertise, musical merit alone.

Obviously, the system of college admissions is the farthest from this level of fairness as it can possibly be, but what if it were reformed to be as fair?

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WHERE IS SAINT PATRICK WHEN IRELAND NEEDS HIM?

Sunset on the Cliffs of Moher, County Clare, Ireland
Sunset on the Cliffs of Moher, County Clare, Ireland

Sunday (3/17) was St. Patrick's Day here in Ireland, and around the world as well.  In places like New York and Boston, it's a day to celebrate Irish heritage and to get disgracefully drunk, but not in Ireland, where it's also a national holiday.

Ireland is changing in other ways as well. Gay marriage (we have a gay Taoiseach, or prime minister) is in, and so is abortion.  Having joined the EU against its will, Ireland has now come to embrace the enervated "modernity" of France and Germany.

It's like watching a child parading around in its grandfather's tie-dyed bell bottoms and thinking he's now a sophisticated grownup. Ireland needs St. Patrick again.

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THE LAND GRAB THAT COST RUSSIA ITS FUTURE

crimea-on-map Five years ago in mid-March 2014, Russian “little green men” soldiers in unmarked army uniforms and masks took full control of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.

little-green-men On March 18 of that year, President Vladimir Putin made a jubilant address to the Russian Federation Council (upper chamber of parliament) on the “reunification” with Crimea, asserting, “In people’s hearts and minds, Crimea has always been an inseparable part of Russia” (Kremlin.ru, 3/18/2014).

The forceful dismemberment of Ukraine and the illegal annexation of Crimea produced an explosion of jingoist triumphalism in Russia, which effectively made most of its citizens accomplices in that blatant violation of international law and 21st-century norms of European inter-state behavior.

Since then, the “patriotic mobilization” has mostly dissipated and Russian trust in Putin’s leadership has hit a low of 32 percent, according to the official pollster VTsIOM (Wciom.ru, 3/03/2019).  More and more it’s looking like Putin’s seizure of Crimea has cost Russia its future.

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HOW CAN PRESIDENT TRUMP KEEP OUR ECONOMY GROWING?

keep-it-growingWill the economy grow in the next two years?

President Trump had a plan to grow the economy when he took office — cut tax rates and get rid of many counterproductive regulations. It worked. The economy grew at a 3 percent rate last year, and employment grew to the point where there were more jobs available than workers to fill them.

The world economy is slowing, particularly in Europe. This slowdown will have a negative effect on the U.S. economy as the global demand for U.S. goods and services will be lessened. The Trump administration needs a new economic game plan or growth will diminish.

Without new pro-growth policies, economic growth will wane, for the following reasons.

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HALF-FULL REPORT 03/15/19

NY Post Cover Monday March 12, 2019
NY Post Cover Monday March 12, 2019

Welcome to the Cornucopia HFR.  Pelosi caving is just the start of it this week.  It’s not just that she blinked – so did Schiff and Nadler.

With the collapse of Bobby Mueller in failing to find any evidence of Trump-Russia “collusion,” the Dem Witch Hunt that Schifty and Fatso were planning to perpetuate with endless subpoenas and investigations has collapsed also.  As CTH explains in Failure to Launch (3/11), they’ve surrendered.

We’ve barely begun reveling in this cornucopia week.  Saddle up, let’s go….

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THE MOST MAGICAL ATLANTIC PARADISE OF ALL

atlantic-paradise For the past two weeks, we explored The Atlantic Paradise of Madeira, then The Atlantic Paradise of Faial.  Our grand finale this week is the most magical of all.

It’s almost surrealistically beautiful as you can see. The islanders are friendly, hospitable, devoutly Christian, and proud members of Western Civilization.  A great many speak English, but there are not a great many of them.  They number 140,000 spread out over 300 spectacularly scenic square miles.

They love drinking parties, cheerful festivals, and bright colors – with their charming homes painted the color of key lime pie, raspberry mousse, or oceanic blue, and gaudily decorating prayer chapels called Imperios.

They love liberty so much they’ve had this motto emblazoned on their coat of arms for centuries:  Antes morrer livres que em paz sujeitos Rather die free than live in peaceful subjugation.  This is a TTPer’s true paradise.

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THE DEATH BLOSSOM OF Q

death-blossom”Death blossom.”

Back in 1991, U.S. soldiers in Operation Desert Storm coined that evocative trope to describe how Iraqi soldiers – panicked at the first sound of gunfire – would shoot wildly in all directions.

Thanks to Q, millions of civilians now know what a “death blossom” is.

Q used “death blossom” to describe Democrats – panicked because Special Counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of Trump “collusion” with Russia -- who fire off wild accusations of obstruction, money laundering, mob connections.

Since he began posting on 4chan and 8chan -- https://qanon.pub/ -- in November 2017, the letter Q has become as popular a symbol of resistance to a corrupt elite as was Zorro’s Z in the Disney television series.  Here’s what he’s saying will happen this week.

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THE GREAT AMERICAN OUTRAGE MACHINE

[Below is the text of Tucker’s monologue – first 6:45 minutes of the video above –  on his Fox News show Monday night (3/11).  His courage in standing up to the Left’s Outrage Machine Mob – and condemning the Republicans for their cowardice – is inspirational.]

As anyone who has ever been caught in its gears can tell you, the great American outrage machine is a remarkable thing. One day you're having dinner with your family, imagining everything is fine. The next, your phone is exploding with calls from reporters.

They read you snippets from a press release written by Democratic Party operatives. They demand to know how you could possibly have said something so awful and offensive, and ask something like, "Do you have a statement on how immoral you are?" It's a bewildering moment, especially when the quotes in question are more than a decade old.

There's really not that much you can do to respond. It's pointless to try to explain how the words were spoken in jest or taken out of context, or in any case, bear no resemblance to what you actually think or would want for the country. None of that matters. Nobody cares. You know the role you're required to play. You are a sinner that needs the forgiveness of Twitter.

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THE SOLUTION – MILITARIZE THE IMMIGRATION COURTS

Here’smilitarize-immigration-courts the problem. Whether we eventually build a wall is irrelevant to the calculations of the current crop of migrants, because they know, right now and for the foreseeable future, illegal immigration simply is not punished in the United States. On the contrary, it is rewarded.

You see, the Trump Administration has already tried to implement policies that automatically deny Central Americans and sundry border-hoppers eligibility to apply for asylum. In effect, the Supreme Court has already ruled—thanks to Chief Justice Roberts, who sided with the court’s four liberals—that illegal crossers are entitled to an asylum hearing.

A more recent case may even give rejected asylum seekers the right to appeal. Given the massive backlog, this guarantees asylum seekers, even the most dishonest and dangerous among them, the right to impose themselves on the American people for years to come.

Let’s face it. Given the sheer irrationality of the current system and the out-of-touch judges who preside over it, we must consider practicable alternatives.  Here’s a solution that could really work.

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THE DISASTER OF BOEING’S CORRUPTION IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR TRUMP

Victims of Boeing crash in Ethiopia collected in body bags
Victims of Boeing crash in Ethiopia collected in body bags

I didn’t say that Boeing is arrogant. I said they have their noses in the air.  Jokes aside, l’Affaire Boeing is a watershed.

President Trump is under pressure to circle the wagons around one of America’s flagship industrial companies, among other reasons because China will exploit the crisis to promote its new entry into the civil aircraft market.

He made a good start yesterday (3/13) by grounding the Boeing 737 Max aircraft in US airspace, after the horrific Ethiopian Airlines crash Sunday (3/10) that killed 157.

To follow up, he should ignore the legions of industry lobbyists and their Hallelujah chorus at the Pentagon, and take the opportunity to clean out the swamp in America’s military industry.  Here’s what’s going on.

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CONNECTING THE DOTS OF DEEP STATE CORRUPTION

corrupt-deep-state-exposedYou may have noticed that there have been a number of people in the top ranks of the FBI and Justice Department — like Robert Mueller, James Comey and Andrew McCabe — who have had powerful jobs regardless of whether the administration is Democrat(Clinton/Obama) or Republican (Bushes).

They are put there, in part, to protect the financial interests of the Washington establishment. The U.S. government dispenses tens of billions of dollars to foreign governments and entities each year, and Washington interests receive billions from foreign countries.

President Trump was an outsider who appeared to be willing to take on the corrupt status quo; so, in the minds of those on the international gravy train, he must be eliminated. Hence, the phony Mueller Russian-collusion investigation. There are dozens of examples, but the following three are illustrative.

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PESHWA WARRIOR TRUMP

In the Bollywood epic Bajirao Mastani, Indian film star Ranveer Singh plays a Peshwa Warrior who performs a spectacular Malhari dance.

Now, our POTUS face has been photoshopped onto Ranveer – the facial expressions are priceless. No wonder Peshwa Warrior Trump – all 46 seconds of it – has gone viral as an internet sensation. Enjoy…

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