News Burst: April 26, 2017 (Patreon)

Hey Fam-a-lam,

I hope you’re all well! Sorry this one is a little late (and perhaps a bit short, though that's simply because there's not an incredible amount going on since yesterday). I’ve been editing tomorrow’s video and getting it all ready for publish. It’s a doozy, if I do say so myself!

There’s not much else to report. Packing is going well (you may have seen some of my nostalgic posts on Twitter or Instagram), and we’re really excited to make the move, and get the hell out of this place!

Alright, enough about me. Let’s get to it.

Are We About to Go to War?: http://freebeacon.com/national-security/senators-told-north-korea-nuclear-threat-urgent/

My Take: When I first started seeing this hullabaloo circulating this morning, I didn’t think all that much of it. Some folks were talking a big game about what’s going on with North Korea, but this sort of bluster has been going on for years now. It’s hard to take it all seriously, especially because we perpetually seem both “at the brink” with them, and simultaneously “completely fine,” all at once.

But maybe it’s more serious than that. Senators reportedly went to the White House today to hear about the situation with North Korea, which is incredibly unusual. The Free Beacon’s source notes that the discussion surrounded “an urgent national security threat,” and that the meeting was about an hour long in length.

What will come of this? It’s unclear. Economic sanctions, according to the story, are the administration’s likely next step. After that? Nuclear war. (Only kidding.) As usual, we’ll have to wait and see. The meeting was described as “very consequential.” Things are coming to a head, kiddos.

Associated Story: Kim Prepares For War (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4447140/Kim-Jong-army-fires-rockets-mock-enemy-warships.html)

The Trump Tax Overhaul Looks (Kinda) Like This: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/trump-to-unveil-proposal-for-massive-tax-cut/2017/04/26/2097fe42-2a94-11e7-be51-b3fc6ff7faee_story.html?utm_term=.d06a32ce951d

My Take: Today, the Trump administration -- led by Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn -- finally announced some (very limited) details on their planned overhaul of the tax system. And frankly, some of it sounds good, while other parts of the plans (and rumored parts of the plan) don’t sound as hot.

For starters, the corporate tax rate would be cut from 35% to 15%, which is huge for companies big and small. Additionally -- and most appealing -- the top individual income tax bracket would be 35% at the federal level, and the number of brackets would go from seven to three, which goes a long way towards flattening the income tax, something lots of people (like me) want, and think is the fairest way forward.

“The goal,” according to this article, “[is] to cut taxes so much and so fast that it [leads] to immediate economic growth, creating more jobs and producing trillions of dollars in new revenue and wealth over the next decade.” Sounds awesome to me. I’m just waiting to hear more plans on how we’ll pay our bills with lower taxes, because that’s super important to me (and to many others). I’m also hoping the rumored 401(k) tax isn’t real…

Ann Coulter’s Berkeley Speech is Cancelled: http://news.trust.org/item/20170426165332-ncuz8

My Take: This is totally ridiculous. Coulter’s short statement on the matter, written to Reuters, reads: “There will be no speech. I looked over my shoulder and my allies had joined the other team.” Mysterious, indeed.

A related (and heartening) story, linked below, has the ACLU, of all organizations, coming out in defense of Coulter, which is great to see, and represents a rare (albeit not unprecedented) show of solidarity across political lines from the famously hyper-liberal organization. In a series of Tweets, the ACLU came out in defense of Coulter and in condemnation of the university and the furor (and the bullies) that got us to this point to begin with.

Word is folks will still be speaking at Berkeley tomorrow, so I’ll be keeping an eye out. Still, the one major draw that day was Coulter, and she’s no longer participating. And it’s a shame to see. I hope tomorrow doesn’t turn violent, because that would be truly, truly disappointing to see.

Associated Story: The ACLU Defends Coulter (http://thehill.com/homenews/news/330776-aclu-defends-coulter-we-must-protect-speech)

Trump’s Ready to Destroy NAFTA: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/naft-quit-trump_us_5900d5c0e4b081a5c0f9ff72?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

My Take: It looks like Donald Trump is considering literally pulling us out of NAFTA, at least if rumors of a potential executive order are true. This coincides with a couple of recent news items I’ve written here on Patreon regarding Canadian trade and tariffs in particular, and, unlike those stories, will also hit one of the actual ires of Trump’s trade initiatives: Mexico.

Trump can apparently do this unilaterally, and it could be a mere gesture, a sort of gun to the head of Canada and (especially) Mexico to come to the table and renegotiate a better plan for America. I suppose there’s not much else to say, other than that NAFTA has had many, many opponents (and seemingly few advocates) since it was passed some 23 years ago.

I won’t lie: I fully support this move. NAFTA is completely unfair to the American worker, and while I don’t blame Canada for this, per se -- Canada’s living standards and pay are up to par with the US, and therefore there’s more parity there -- Mexico has gotten a wildly advantageous deal. Something should (and looks like finally will) be done about it. A new pact should be signed that takes into account the realities of the 21st century economy, and what it’s done to the American working class.

Associated Story: Mexican legislature possibly exploring an “entry fee” for American visitors as retaliation for the building-of-a-wall possibility (http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/04/26/miffed-over-border-wall-talk-top-mexican-official-floats-american-entry-fee.html)

Inside the Health Care Bill Revival: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/26/trump-obamacare-repeal-replace-237654

My Take: I’m going to simply encourage you to read this one. It’s a great story. <3