I am writing you this having just finished watching the first GOP presidential debate. Here are my unvarnished views on who gained the most and the least tonight. I have not read or heard anyone else’s analysis, so these are my thoughts and mine alone.

I have often pointed out how the media is no longer just biased, but is slinging pure propaganda intended not to inform, but to support leftist narratives and indoctrinate you into their way of thinking. This is not new. It has been going on in media since the beginning of the Republic. What is new is that nearly all of legacy media is stacked up on one side of the political ledger instead of being equally divided. One of the strategies they employ is to hide facts and information that do not fit the narrative they wish to promote. That said, the true information is out there. Here are some things you will not find reported on the “evening news” or the LA Times.

Have you heard that song? It has been one of the top selling songs in American the last few weeks. Yes, even outselling Taylor Swift. It is part of a new movement of anti-woke protest songs. And, just as the anti-war protest songs of the 60s and 70s were all in one genre – rock music, these new anti-woke protest songs are all from Country artists. The popularity of anti-woke protest music is part of where things are right now. Here is a little more color on that, as well as the status of some other conditions in society, government, and the world. All in one missive.

Congress is out until after Labor Day. There are only three major deadlines that motivate members of congress to finish things up. They are (1) 3 weeks before they are up for reelection (2) Christmas Day and (3) August recess. Your “life, liberty and property” are safe for a few weeks if you turn around the famous quip attributed to Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain). Let’s review what happened before they left, and where things stand for when they get back.

It’s a good thing you don’t pay anything to read this blog. Occasionally, I make predictions about things. And I want to make sure they are worth what you are paying. Zero is the right price. I am writing this on July 25, 2023, and here follow my views and observations on the economy and what is going on out there. These thoughts are politically neutral and I try to be as objective as I can be.

Taxes are a necessary part of a civilized society. They have been around for thousands of years. They fund those actions of the government that are deemed in the general interest of society. In Democratic Republics, they are assessed upon the people with their consent through their elected representatives. But not all taxes are created equal. Some are “better” than others.

The recent Supreme Court decisions have received a lot of coverage in all of the press. You don’t need me to regurgitate what the decisions were and the arguments supporting and opposing the rulings. But the aftermath of these decisions impacts more than just the plaintiffs and defendants and others in similar positions to those parties. There are two broader implications that I would like to explore with you.

The presidency of Donald J. Trump had many notable accomplishments. Among them are starting to secure the border; successful and effective foreign and trade policies; tax rate reductions that increased revenue; three excellent appointments to the Supreme Court and a number of effective cabinet appointees and executive orders. He also made the Republican party more populist bringing in blue collar families and driving out the old “country club Republican” image. I’m sure there are more that I am leaving out in the interest of brevity.

Somewhere in your pocket, purse or wallet, you probably have some of those pieces of greenish paper with a number on each of the four corners. You use this paper (or the digital equivalent on your phone) to acquire things of value that you need and can use like food. And others readily give you those tangible and useful things in exchange for pieces of paper that don’t even burn very well or even worse, for some 1s and 0s in a computer. The whole concept of money is based on trust. Trust in the system behind that money. Without it, that paper ,or the 1s and 0s, are literally not worth the paper they are printed on. For proof, I can show you $100 million Zimbabwe bill. It’s not worth a cent because no one trusts that government.

I have attended seminars and lectures of various sorts for decades. I believe in lifelong learning for many reasons and as I approach age 68, I still have much I can learn. Since college, most of this learning has come from my professional associations, investments, CPA education and such. Of late, however, I have gotten more out of church sermons than almost anywhere else.

The press is obsessed with the Trump indictments, as they are with all things Donald Trump. I have nothing to add on that subject that you have not already heard. I believe there are now ten candidates in the Republican presidential primary and there is lots of chatter about whether any of the nine not named Trump can beat him. But while all that is in the headlines, there is something going on about 10 pages deep in the news that may be as or more significant. That “something” is Gavin Newsom.

There has been plenty of spin about the debt limit non-negotiations, then negotiations and finally deal and passage into law. According to the leftist media, Speaker McCarthy endangered the country with unreasonable far-right demands and Biden appropriately refused to negotiate. Then the Speaker passed a bill, which the Senate could not do, and the president began negotiations. Miraculously, the president who would not negotiate suddenly took credit for a great bipartisan achievement that saved the nation. My view is, unsurprisingly, different.

Those of us of a certain age (that is a euphemism for “old”), remember when almost all Americans watched the same TV shows on one of the three networks. We got our news from the hometown paper, the CBS evening news, Newsweek, or Time magazine and maybe Paul Harvey on the radio. There was a commonality of experience and of exposure to information. Not anymore.

The market for U.S. Treasuries is the largest, most liquid, safest and most trusted investment in the world. At over $30 Trillion in size with maturities ranging from 30 days to 30 years, there is plenty to go around. Since the dollar is the world’s reserve currency, Treasuries are often used in international transactions and foreign governments own them for a number of reasons, including managing their own currency’s value. Banks, pension funds, insurance companies have all used them to store money for decades. U.S. Treasuries are the most important asset and market in the world.

I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. I spent the first 60 years of my life (my grandchildren happily tell me that I am old) living in California and of course I spent 14 years in full time elected office from there. From my birth until 1992, California voted Republican in every presidential election except for Lyndon Johnson’s lopsided win in 1964. Of course, we all know what has happened since then. Not once has the state voted Republican and it is now one of the most reliably blue states in the union. Not so with Florida.