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Showing posts from December, 2017

After Tax Bill, Business is Surging

After multiple failures when it came to repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Wednesday's passage of the Tax Cut and Reform Bill by the House and the Senate was a major feat for the Republican Party. The bill, which passed the House in a 224-201 vote and the Senate in a 51-48 vote, will eliminate $1.5 trillion in taxes. The top corporate tax rate was slashed from 35% to 21%, which will make the United States a competitive player on the global business playing field. The economic benefits of this move are already obvious: Boeing announced a new $300 million investment initiative, Wells Fargo announced a $15 minimum wage and $1 billion in new capital spending (along with $400 million in philanthropic contributions), Fifth Third Bancorp announced a $15 minimum wage and a $1,000 bonus for all employees, and AT&T announced a $1,000 bonus for all employees. Ryan, Trump, and McConnell All of these announcements were pegged to the tax plan, making it obvious that the bill...

Editorial: The Truth About Net Neutrality

On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted along partisan lines to repeal a 2015 ruling that declared the Internet to be a utility. This is largely thanks to the anti-regulatory stances of President Donald Trump and FCC President Ajit Pai. Contrary to the flurry of fake news that has been pushed by the media and the tech blogs, the repeal of the so-called "net neutrality" rule is a good thing for consumers. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Essentially, four things will be accomplished. First, Internet providers can offer consumers with varying levels of Internet speed . This hardly means that they will jack up speed for one site and slow it down for another, an alarmist scenario that has been presented by the media to far too many innocent Americans. Such behavior would go against big providers' "corporate citizen" ethos and cost them millions of customers. Instead, they will utilize this ruling to give consumers more choices. Second...

Analysis: Why Judge Roy Moore Lost

Roy Moore, the former Alabama Supreme Court judge who lost election for a seat in the United States Senate, fought for conservative values over the course of his career in politics. This made him a folk hero in Alabama, a state where support for gay marriage and abortion is low when compared to the national averages. However, in the process, Moore made himself a magnet for controversy due to his offhand comments on race and sexual orientation. Judge Roy Moore Due to the state of Alabama’s reverence for social conservatism, Moore’s positions aren’t what disqualified him. He was rejected due to accusations of sexual misconduct, actions that allegedly occurred when Moore was in his early thirties and the women were in their teens. Eight women came forward against Moore, and one of the accusers claimed that he made her “touch over his underwear” when she was only 14, according to Business Insider . The victor in Alabama, Doug Jones, is an unlikely senator for the staunchly ...

President Trump's Approval at 45%, Job Market Surging

According to a poll conducted by POLITICO/Morning Consult, President Donald J. Trump's approval rating is at 45%, its highest since September. This represents a 2% increase from last week's POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. Washington Examiner described the poll methodology in an article, writing, "The online survey was conducted with 1,997 registered voters nationwide and had a 2 percentage point margin of error." Along with the poll, the jobs report published today is a testament to President Trump. It shows that 228,000 jobs were added in November, 28,000 more than predicted, and that the unemployment rate (4.1%) is still at its lowest level since 2000. Additionally, average wages increased by 2.5% over the past year. President Donald Trump in Little Rock, Ark. The New York Times wrote, The American job market is the strongest it’s been in a decade, and arguably the strongest since 2000. The United States has now added jobs for 86 consecutive months — a...