Sorry, Republicans: If You’re Not Cutting Spending, You’re Not Cutting Taxes

Republican “tax reform” theatrics have worn thin over  many months of waiting, but I still prefer a more theatrical title. “A tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing” rings true. Four centuries later, Shakespeare’s MacBeth is a better description of the matter than any coming out of Washington, DC.

Rookies

Decades ago, it was common wisdom that the Hunt Brothers could not go broke if they threw away hundred dollar bills as fast as they could pick them up and toss them. It was thought to be an NP-Hard problem. But the Hunt Brothers did figure out how to do it.

Dying for the Empire Is Not Heroic

Predictably, the news media spent most of the week examining words Donald Trump may or may not have spoken to the widow of an American Green Beret killed in Niger, in northwest Africa, in early October. Not only was this coverage tedious, it was largely pointless. We know Trump is a clumsy boor, and we also know that lots of people are ready to pounce on him for any sort of gaffe, real or imagined. Who cares? It’s not news. But it was useful to those who wish to distract Americans from what really needs attention: the U.S. government’s perpetual war.