Chet Collins

Navy to rename USS Chancellorsville for former slave Robert Smalls - Task & Purpose

Implementing the Naming Commission’s renaming plan is expected to cost the Defense Department roughly $62.5 million, according to the commission’s final report.

Biden’s Regulatory Deluge - WSJ Opinion

The Constitution grants the power to make laws to Congress, not agencies. But in calendar 2021, Mr. Crews notes, agencies issued 3,257 rules, including 105 last-minute Trump rules, while Congress passed 143 laws. Last year they added another 3,168 rules in the Federal Register to go with 247 laws passed by Congress. That’s 13 rules from unelected agencies for every one law from elected legislators.

The Gaslighting of East Palestine - WSJ Opinion

Today’s fear is the price Americans are paying for the public-health authorities’ response to Covid. So many things experts claimed in the name of science—from the efficacy of masks to the shortcomings of natural immunity—turned out not to be true. The result is East Palestine, where many ask why they should now believe authorities who assure them the air and water are safe.

Biden Draws Distinction Between Classified Documents Found at His Homes and Trump’s - WSJ

He was apparently referring to a widely circulated photo showing documents that federal agents had laid out; the image didn’t represent how Mr. Trump kept the papers.  

This is the first time I’m getting this information.

Pentagon Spent At Least $1.5 Million on Missiles to Down Three High-Altitude Objects - WSJ

That figure is only for the four AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles used to bring down the objects over Alaska, Canada’s Yukon territory and Lake Huron. It doesn’t include the cost for Navy, Coast Guard, Alaska National Guard and Canadian forces to search for the debris, which likely will add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost, the officials said.

Oh, and oops, we didn’t find anything.

And everyone gets to keep their jobs!

The flights used to spot the balloons and eventually shoot them down aren’t part of the cost estimates because the U.S. military considers the flights part of its pilots’ training and has already budgeted those flight hours, the defense officials said.

Yup, just a little unplanned scramble and live-fire exercise outside of designated ranges and airspace. Just your classic, garden variety training flight.

Donald Trump Visits Ohio Train-Derailment Site, in Early Salvo of 2024 Race - WSJ

President Biden was briefed on conditions in East Palestine while he was rallying Europe to Ukraine’s aid in Warsaw, Poland, while former President Donald Trump visited the disaster site Wednesday afternoon.

This derailment happened more than two weeks before Biden left the country. He hasn’t been to the site because he’s consciously chosen not to go. The Transportation Secretary will be there 20 days after the derailment, but didn’t announce a trip until after Trump came and left.

This is why Trump won in 2016, and why he’s still a contender. Politicians are briefed from afar, appearing cold and aloof. Trump is unafraid to get up close and personal and comes off as compassionate and engaged.

Lately the narrative has been the derailment is Trump!s fault because he cancelled an Obama-era rule about train braking systems.

The head of the National Transportation Safety Board has said that the brake rule wouldn’t have applied to the derailed Norfolk Southern train.

A narrative that changes the story but is completely irrelevant to the facts.

This exact series events is the quintessential behavior of the political class that put Trump in office and they’re laying the groundwork to do it all over again.

Crypto Still Draws Everyday Investors Hoping to Strike It Rich - WSJ

Some individual investors’ enduring enthusiasm for crypto stems in part from a sense that traditional routes to wealth are blocked off, say investors and researchers who study their behavior. Those everyday investors say that those paths, such as earning income, investing long-term in stocks, and buying real estate, seem less accessible and less lucrative than crypto, even with its significant risks.

Working a job and investing for the long term is less accessible than being a crypto bro?

Sixth Grader Swears His Science Homework Was Blown Up By A Sidewinder Missile - Babylon Bee

Though Jared had never been a problem student, his teacher found his outlandish excuse difficult to believe. “I’ve been a schoolteacher for over 30 years,” said Carla Riley. “I’ve heard just about every excuse there is, but this one about the United States Air Force shooting down a sixth-grade science project really takes the cake.”

The Junk Economics of ‘Junk-Fee’ Politics - WSJ Opinion

There’s no such thing as a free financial product. If regulators limit one source of revenue, businesses will find another to cover their costs. That is one lesson from the Dodd-Frank Act, which limited debit-card fees that banks charge retailers for using their network. As a result, banks increased overdraft fees.

Super Bowl Flyover Featuring All Female Pilots Running 20 Minutes Late - Babylon Bee

“Believe me, we will step on the gas and show everyone some woman power just as soon as we can! Until then - wait, hold on now - did we all just show up in the same flight outfit??” At publishing time, the team pushed back their arrival another ten minutes after one of the pilots burned out her landing gear taxiing with the parking brake on.

To Cover Rising Costs, Hunter Now Charging 15% For The Big Guy - Babylon Bee

At publishing time, Hunter offered to sweeten the deal with the CCP by adding a pile of classified documents from the junk drawer.

I have 50 unread emails.

Not great.

U.S. Air Defenses Failed to Spot Earlier Chinese Balloon Intrusions, General Says - WSJ

“This gave us the opportunity to assess what they were actually doing, what kind of capabilities existed on the balloon, what kind of transmission capabilities existed,” Gen. VanHerck added. “I think you’ll see in the future that that timeframe was well worth its value to collect over.”

Job well done, then!

China Assures Warships Heading For Taiwan Are Just Meteorological Warships - Babylon Bee

“We have learned much about the weather in Hong Kong, and now it’s time to study Taiwan. The Chinese Communist Party appreciates America’s patience while we battle climate change, one country at a time.”

Biden Says He’ll Shoot Down Chinese Spy Balloon As Soon As He’s Done Letting It Spy - Babylon Bee

At publishing time, Eric Swalwell had been seen approaching the spy balloon and asking for its number.

The Market Tanked, but Americans Kept Piling Money Into Their 401(k)s - WSJ

About 90% of investors in the 401(k)-style retirement plans administered by Vanguard Group maintained or increased their savings rate in 2022. And trading activity fell to a two-decade low among participants who manage their own investments

Long-term investors love a good sale.

A Consumption Tax Is the Shock Our Broken System Needs - WSJ Opinion

Others complain that the rate will be high. An effective 30% consumption tax, added to state sales taxes as high as 10%, could add up to a 40% or greater rate. But taxes overall must finance what the government spends. Collecting it in one tax rather than lots of smaller taxes doesn’t change the overall rate. It’s better for voters to see how much the government takes.

This is a really good point. We’re lulled to sleep with a myriad of nickel and dime taxes. Added together, the bill would shock every taxpayer.

Biden Shows Off New Electric Car That Can Hold Over 17 Boxes Of Classified Documents - Babylon Bee

“I can get all of these top-secret files to my beach house on a single charge! Not a joke!” said Biden, cruising up Pennsylvania Avenue. “Wait, weren’t there eighteen boxes? Eh, who cares. Who wants ice cream??” President Biden drove the car as part of his climate initiative, hoping to encourage everyday Americans to purchase $100,000 electric vehicles.

Biden Administration to Propose Rule to Lower Credit-Card Late Fees - WSJ

“Many Americans believe these fees are just plain wrong,” CFPB director Rohit Chopra said Tuesday in a preview of the late-fee proposal.

Except they haven’t voted with their wallets and switched cards or traded out for debit. So now the government is going to get involved in this private contract and “help?” It’s just moving the pea.

Biden Proposes End to Moral Exemption for Birth-Control Coverage - WSJ

The Biden administration proposed an end to an exemption allowing health plans to exclude coverage of no-cost birth control on moral grounds

Isn’t having a Catholic president so wonderful?

This proposal leaves religious objections in tact (for now), but bears the same level of contempt for anyone who dares question the technocrats.