Judge Kavanaugh Confirmation Debacle

Judge Brett Kavanaugh -  Supreme Court Nominee

This is an analysis from a FB friend 
which deserves broad viewership. 

It is a succinct and lucid summary 
of the Judge Kavanaugh Senate 
hearings and issues.

Facts:

1)  Six FBI background checks over 25 years:
     No Negatives found.
2) 1,325 written questions from US Senators:
    No Negative Comments
3) 65 meetings with US Senators:
    The allegations were never mentioned
4) 32 hours of public hearings:
     No mention of the allegations
5) In US Senate Judiciary Committee Executive session:
    No reference to the allegations

Booker: aka: Spartacus 

6) Senator Cory Booker
     Made no mention the allegations
7)  At the time of this post [18SEP2918], the accuser continued to refuse to appear before the Senate Committee.
     -- No other witnesses will be allowed to appear before the Committee.

8)  The Washington Post published a hit piece mentioning a single, uncorroborated, allegation from 36 years ago, during Kavanaugh's high school days, and the Senate Committee must now delay or defeat Judge Kavanagh's nomination to the Senate for confirmation to the Supreme Court.

9)  Click here for Kavanaugh's biography

This is a disgraceful, partisan debasement of the 

US Senate and the confirmation process, and the 

fact that it was held until the eleventh-hour is 

suspicious, at best, and nefarious at worst!

To clarify, here is the Democrats timeline:

Senator Feinstein

• Dianne Feinstein, a Senior Democrat member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, had a written statement in her possession from a woman accusing Kavanaugh of misconduct when they were both teenagers, weeks before Kavanaugh ever came before Congress for hearings.

• Feinstein did not turn the letter over to the FBI, which would then have had the authority to discretely interview those involved and assess the allegation's legal ramifications for a public figure.

• Feinstein (and other Senate Dems who presumably knew about the letter) did not ask Kavanaugh about the allegations they knew had been made against him during the hundreds of hours of closed and open testimony and thousands of submitted questions.

• Feinstein held the letter until Kavanaugh's hearing was concluded and a vote for him was all-but-sure to pass nomination, and then first mentioned the letter during a press release to reporters - where the case would be litigated in the public arena, and not within the halls of investigative or deliberative bodies whose job it is to assess these claims.

• Because Kavanaugh was never asked about the accusations or his relationship with the accuser in days of questioning by the Senate, the Judge presumably had no idea what the allegations even were.
   a) The accusations lack a time, place, and circumstances
   b) making them all but impossible for Kavanaugh's defense
   c) Such accusations would never be admissible in a court of law!

Senator Grassley

• Feinstein did not cooperate with Republicans in setting up follow-up calls with the Kavanaugh accuser who accuser continues to ignore requests from Senator Grassley for a hearing.

• Feinstein and Senate Democrats refused to speak with Kavanaugh and the Senate Judiciary staff Monday after the accuser had gone public and Kavanaugh had forcibly denied the allegations.

The accuser's lawyer says it is not her client’s job to corroborate her claims against Kavanaugh
[a normal process in a court of law]

Every legitimate accuser should be  heard -- after investigation and verification;  and such cases should be  litigated to the fullest extent. However, the way Democrats have handled this claim has in no way benefitted the accuser, accused, or the greater Me Too movement.  
A court would throw out such an accusation for lack of evidence as well as the fact that the event allegedly occurred 36 years prior. The fact that the accuser is linked to the Hillary campaign and to the Steele bogus accusation degrades the accuser and the accusation. 

It smacks of political weaponization!



EDITORIAL NOTE:
Who is the accuser?

Christine: Now  --                                           36 Years Ago

Here's a summary

Judge Kavanaugh's Accuser

Notably, Christine Blasey's brother, Ralph III, worked for Baker Hostetler, the Fusion GPS law firm, for 15 years.

She is affiliated with Indivisible, an Alinsky-style Anti-Trump "Resistance Group" in Silicon Valley [their Facebook page has now been taken down].

Katz

According to Michael Collesano, her lawyer, Debra Katz, a defender of Bill Clinton's assaults on women, to include Paula Jones ["a 'one-time' incident"] is a board member of POGO, a Soros-funded organization.  She is currently representing Irwin Reiter [a Harvey Weinstein company executive]

Trump's Tax Plan

Today's discussion will focus on the impact of President Trump's Tax Plan.

[We feel qualified to discuss this topic as we maintain advanced degrees in 

Business Administration and Economics from well regarded institutions 

such as Webster, Georgetown, and Oxford Universities, and

we have taught senior level International Business 

courses at the University of Maryland.

We also conducted a NSC/CSIS study of the impact of business

 on local and international economies to assist the 

Reagan Administration develop a strategy for 

International Economic Development.

]

Leftist [e.g., NYT, WaPo, CNN, etc.,] criticism of Trump's Tax Plan worries that it will reduce tax revenues, undercutting the ability of Congress to spend extraordinary amounts of money on pet projects, like the Trillion Dollar F-35, and will benefit "The Rich" at the expense of "The Working Class".

In reality, most economists [including this author] will point out that Economies of Scale play a major role in increasing tax revenues:

1)  The tax base of employed taxpayers expands as jobs are created
      by the return of corporation to the US [inspired by a reduced tax
      rate]; the more taxpayers, the more tax revenue,
2)  Companies previously squeezed by ObamaCare's requirement
      to provide health benefits forall employees, if the number of
      employees exceeds 49, can now return to normal business
      practices and hire more than 49 employees legally; thus, a
      larger taxpayer base,
3)   New companies will be created to meet increased demand for goods and services, no longer
       hampered by the burdensome bureaucratic regulations and criminal penalties buried
       in ObamaCare,
4)   The defunding and termination of enforcement of ObamaCare criminal penalties will end the cost
       of ObamaCare special enforcement units which had hired massive staffs and generated equally
       massive budgets, incurring massive court costs in prosecution of "offenders".
5)  Disposable income of taxpayers will increase, facilitating their expenditures on taxable goods
      and services; the net tax revenues gained through expanded commerce will more than offset
      the reduction in individual tax revenue.

6)  Home equity will continue to increase for
      taxpayers who no longer have to worry that
      Obama or Congress will eliminate the tax
      deduction for mortgage interest and real estate
      taxes; that concept created a negative impact
      on the expansion of the housing industry
      which had begun to contract based on rumors
      from Capitol Hill.
      a)   Home equity allows homeowners greater
             availability of cash through refinancing,
      b)   Home equity translates to more profit in
             the pocket when homeowners sell,
      c)   Home equity encourages new homebuyers,
             expanding the housing market at all levels.
      d)   Housing Market expansion encourages new construction, which employs skilled and
             unskilled labor, expanding the workforce -- and again, expands the taxpayer base,
       e)  Housing Market expansion translates into increased sales of goods and services at all levels,
             from wood, nails, electrical components, stoves, ovens, HVAC systems, etc., all of which will
             both expand as well as create new companies which will hire new workers/taxpayers.
        f)  Housing Market expansion will create new companies which will not only hire new workers,
             but which will increase the business tax base for local and federal taxes.

Individual Reform

1)  Tax relief for American families, especially middle-income families:

     a)  Reducing the 7 tax brackets to 3 tax brackets of 10%, 25% and 35%

     b)  Doubling the standard deduction

     c)  Providing tax relief for families with child and dependent care expenses
     d)  Eliminate tax on individuals earning below $25,000 per year,
           and on couples eating less than $50,000 per year,

2)  Simplification:

     a)  Eliminate targeted tax breaks that mainly benefit the wealthiest taxpayers    

     b)  Protect the home ownership and charitable gift tax deductions

     c)  Repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax, allowing standard deductions once again,

     d)  Repeal the death tax, allowing family wealth to be passed directly to heirs

As for business, we've noted the expansion above of Small Business in the economy is of major significance.  Here are the documented facts of the impact of Small Business:

1)  99.7%    of US employers
2)  64%       of net "new Private-Sector jobs"
3)  42.9%    of Private-Sector payroll
4)  46%       of Private-Sector output
5)  43%       of high-tech employment
6)  98%       of exporting firms
7)  33%       of value of exported goods

Notably, the impact of ObamaCare provisions forced many Small Business to shut their doors and cease to operate, laying off employees, terminating their sale of goods and services, eradicating their percentage of the economy of local, national, and international commerce, and thus eliminating the tax revenues previously tied to Small Business.

Most politicians -- and economists -- fail to factor in the impact of ObamaCare on the economy and joblessness rates.  The data above makes it a bit more clear for the uninformed.

As a footnote to this mini-discussion of Small Business. we will point out that such companies as Microsoft, Apple, Northrup-Gumman, Oracle, HP, Google, Amazon, and EBay all began as "Small Businesses" -- none of which would have flourished had ObamaCare existed when these companies were start-ups.

Business Reform

1)   15% business tax rate

2)   Territorial tax system to level the playing field for American companies

3)    One-time tax on trillions of dollars held overseas

4)    Eliminate tax breaks for special interest groups
5)    Repeal the 3.8% Obamacare tax that hits small businesses and investment income

The reform of the tax rates on business is especially significant for large, multi-national corporations [MNC], many of which moved their operations outside the US to avoid high taxes and onerous regulations which significantly increased overhead costs and decreased the levels of profit centers.

Lowering the tax rate will attract these extra-territorial companies back to the US where they will not only pay corporate taxes on their profits, but, they will hire American workers to produce goods and services.  These new hires will pay taxes, and consume goods and services provided by Small Business; they will also buy durable goods such as Appliances, TVs, Electronics, etc., and, they will consume services as they expand and enhance their lifestyles.

The territorial tax system will also make these American-based MNCs more competitive, increasing taxable profits, and expanding employment.

The One-Time tax on the protected overseas assets will generate hundreds of billions of dollars in a single event, which can then be invested in the US infrastructure -- creating more jobs.  It has the spin-off effect of eliminating the burden of criminality declarations against US executives who can better expend their resources on building business enterprises rather than expanding the number of lawyers in their legal offices.

And, last, but certainly not least, repeal of the 3.8% ObamaCare tax which has smothered Small Business enterprise, and stifled investment in publicly traded companies, many of which have gone private to reduce the costly impact of federal restrictions.

Noteworthy of this entire review is the impact of ObamaCare -- which most critics have considered merely a fly in the health-care ointment.  In reality, its impact has affected US commerce in all phases of the economy based on its myriad provisions hidden from view in the thousands of pages of both the original ACA as well as the implementation instructions.  

Eliminate ObamaCare, and we can return to business as normal.