Analysis

Three Steps For Immigration Reform

Comprehensive Analysis: How Reforming TVPRA, Asylum Laws, and the Flores Settlement Could Address the U.S. Immigration Crisis The U.S. immigration crisis at the southern border has escalated to a critical juncture, with 10.8 million border encounters, 2.66 million family unit apprehensions, and 468,929 unaccompanied alien children (UACs) recorded from FY2021 to FY2024, overwhelming an already strained immigration system and fueling concerns about human trafficking, system inefficiencies, and border security. This analysis, grounded in data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), and related reports, evaluates how targeted reforms to three pivotal legal frameworks-the Trafficking Victims…

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Tuesday Takeaways

📊 Economic Wisdom Across Decades: Lindsey 1997 vs. Tuesday Trajectories 2025 A three-decade span separates Lawrence Lindsey’s 1997 testimony to the Joint Economic Committee from the April 2025 edition of Tuesday Trajectories-but the dialogue between them is surprisingly direct. This post walks through the shared Dateline: Minnesota Privilege Anything Less Than the Best is a Felony Yo, first degree! Let's kick it.  Dylan Bryan Adams, a 33-year-old fiscal policy analyst for the Minnesota Department of Human Services, was arrested on March 29, 2025, for allegedly vandalizing at least six Tesla vehicles in Minneapolis, causing over $20,000 in damages. Surveillance footage from…

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Tuesday Trajectories

Executive Summary: U.S. Federal Fiscal Trends This analysis, supported by visualizations of U.S. federal fiscal data from 1970 to 2024, reveals an alarming trajectory of escalating government spending, persistent budget deficits, and a rapidly growing national debt, alongside a highly progressive yet insufficient federal income tax system. Federal outlays have surged from $195.6 billion in 1970 to an estimated $6.8–$6.9 trillion in 2024, driven by mandatory programs like Social Security ($1.46–$1.5 trillion) and Medicare ($912 billion), as well as soaring interest payments ($882–$949 billion) on a national debt exceeding $33 trillion. The trajectory of deficits has worsened, growing from $2.8 billion…

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Midweek Manufacturing

Well, we're waiting here in Allentown For the Pennsylvania we never found For the promises our teachers gave If we worked hard, if we behaved So the graduations hang on the wall But they never really helped us at all No they never taught us what was real Iron and coke, chromium steel --Billy Joel "Allentown" Salena Zito wrote this week for the Washington Post exploring the Mon Valley Works Irvin Plant in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, a U.S. Steel facility central to the region’s identity and President Trump’s second-term agenda. The plant, employing 850 workers, produces steel for everyday products using…

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Friday Forecasting

Capital Gains Tax Scenarios and Analyses Executive Summary This analysis explores a proposed capital gains tax structure-15% flat rate for foreign/non-qualifying gains and tiered rates for U.S. domestic stocks (7.5% for 1-3 years, 5% for 3-5 years, 2.5% for 5-10 years, 0% for 10+ years, with no NIIT)-evaluated under diverse economic scenarios tied to Trump’s tariff policies as of April 2025. Starting with a static revenue loss of $10.025 billion annually ($100 billion gains baseline), the study employs static and dynamic scoring to assess fiscal impacts, ranging from optimistic tariff-driven growth to severe recessionary shocks, culminating in a V-shaped recovery scenario.…

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Thursday’s Terrifically Terrifying Tariffs Talk

The older I get, the more I realize how we make idols out of everything, including ideas.  Lately I've been thinking of my own views and how they have changed the past thirty years of relative adulthood.  I say relative because at the core of every man is a naughty twelve-year old boy sniggering in the back of a middle school classroom. See what I mean?  It's just the way guys are. Back to some seriousness if I must because I'm in a long term transitional period called life.  I'll let Jules explain. My friend Doc used to call me a…

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Tuesday Trends

As part of an effort to deliver content and keep my writing wits sharp, I'm going to post a daily series of Quick Takes. Some may carry more weight and be more serious than others. Today's Tuesday Trends will look at patterns or emerging ideas within the terrorism targeting Tesla. I had a chuckle at Abby Phillp telling Scott Jennings on CNN Monday night that Elon Musk's stump speech in Green Bay last weekend was "hyperbolic" because Musk was pointing out the significance of the state supreme court race on power in the House of Representatives and the resultant change would…

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