Chet Collins

Tax on Billionaires’ Unrealized Gains Will Likely Be in Budget Package, Democrats Say - WSJ

“I wouldn’t call that a wealth tax, but it would help get at capital gains, which are an extraordinarily large part of the incomes of the wealthiest individuals and right now escape taxation until they’re realized,” Ms. Yellen said.

So is it income or is it unrealized? Astonishing that the Tresuary Secretary, and former Fed Chair, seems to miss this basic fact.

“Of course, Americans haven’t seen inflation like we’ve experienced recently in a long time, but as we get back to normal, expect that to end,” she said on CNN.

A credible prediction from an economist who runs in the same circles as the economists who have been repeating the word “transitory” for the past nine months.

A Banking Regulator Who Hates Banks - WSJ Opinion

Progressives are demonizing her critics as “xenophobes,” and Ms. Omarova is playing the identity-politics victim card. She claims she’s being criticized because she’s “an immigrant, a woman, a minority.” Yet Republicans confirmed Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairwoman Jelena McWilliams, a Trump nominee who immigrated from communist Yugoslavia. Mr. Brown and Sen. Elizabeth Warren voted against Ms. McWilliams.

Oops.

The $10,000 IRS Tax Dragnet - WSJ Opinion

Recall how liberals howled about the National Security Agency antiterror program that required telecom companies to share phone metadata with the feds. Now Democrats want financial institutions to help the tax collector track your cash flow.

It’s a warrantless search, a massive government seizure without probable cause.

This bill is full of terrible tax ideas: killing the backdoor Roth, taxes on unrealized gains (hello!), on and on and on.

CNN lied about Joe Rogan and ivermectin. It regrets nothing - Washington Examiner

Never mind that CNN broadcast no pro-vaccine “public service announcements” in 2020 in response to then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris’s anti-vaxxer rhetoric . Never mind that Rogan’s show pulls insane audience numbers, numbers far greater than anything CNN’s prime-time hosts enjoy, which may be a clue as to why the network is so keen to portray him and other popular and independent hosts as unreliable and, frankly, dangerous sources of information.

Two very good points.

Rogan may be an off-beat regular joe, but his audience makes him a heavyweight in a landscape now dominated by non-incumbent media organizations.

It’s in CNNs interest to try to take him down a peg or two. And the controversy that they created may have gotten some of Rogan’s audience to pay attention to CNN for the first time in years.

An Ohio Pension Manager Risks Running Out of Retirement Money. His Answer: Take More Risks. - WSJ

Mr. Majeed’s retirement system posted the same 27% return

WOW! All of his “management,” “alternate investments,” and analysis resulted in the exact same result as an S&P 500 Index Fund.

INCREDIBLE!!!! Those teachers are getting a great deal on his salary and all of the asset management fees they paid.

The $10,000 IRS Tax Dragnet - WSJ Opinion

“The wealthy business owners are on the honor system,” Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden says.

An honor system with prison as a consequence for breaking it.

The Gangs of Haiti - WSJ Opinion

In the 19th century, a place as desperate as Haiti might have become a U.S. protectorate to restore order and some rule of law. Nowadays that’s derided as colonialism and would be opposed by the American left. But the sad reality is that without an outside presence capable of defending human life and property, criminal organizations own the country and threaten regional stability.

Interesting idea to float.

Liberal Parent Trying To Figure Out How To Cheer For His Son Brandon - The Babylon Bee

“I try to be so careful, but every so often in the excitement, I let slip a ‘Let’s go Brandon!’” said Bailey. “Then all the parents join in chanting, the game devolves into fits of laughter, and all the Trump supporters are trying to give me a high-five. It’s horrible!”

Experts Warn That If Children Between The Ages Of 5-11 Aren’t Vaccinated Then Pfizer Executives Won’t Get Their Sales Bonuses - The Babylon Bee

“Not vaccinating your kindergartener could jeopardize their ability to make their Porsche payments, pay off their mistresses, or remain platinum members at their golf clubs. We just can’t let that happen.”

I disagree with their premise, but these commercial interests jokes do make me laugh.

Even worse, economists warn that not vaccinating kids could cause drug company stock to dip one or two points, affecting millions of portfolios slightly.

Your New Woke 401(k) - WSJ Opinion

According to Morningstar, the asset-weighted average expense ratio of U.S. “sustainable” funds was 0.61% in 2020 compared to 0.41% for all open-ended mutual and exchange-traded funds and 0.12% for passive funds.

Rip-off.

At the airport, listening for Gramma’s plane.

🛬

Updating my backpack for fall. I took some time to clean my Saddle Mountain.

Covid-19 Vaccine for Kids 5-11 Will Be at Pediatric Offices, Schools Once Authorized, White House Says - WSJ

The Biden administration plans to make Covid-19 vaccines available to children ages 5-11 at more than 25,000 pediatric offices and primary care sites and at pharmacies and schools, should it be approved by federal regulators. (emphasis mine)

Huh. Interesting idea that’s worth watching carefully. Surely they’re not suggesting that kids would be vaccinated during the school day when no parent is present.

I don’t think that a school is any more convenient for families than CVS or Walmart.

I’m also not sure that using schools for a controversial vaccination program is the best idea.

Biden’s Real Tax Target Isn’t the Superrich - WSJ Opinion

But what’s blatantly not fair is to rally support by ranting about Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and private-equity billionaires while writing a bill that mostly misses them, and mostly clobbers people already paying through the nose.

Finally someone said it.

16 Common Phrases In The News And What They Actually Mean - The Babylon Bee

“Zero” = anywhere from zero to several trillion

Brave Browser Says Goodbye to Google As Default Search Engine, Replaces With ‘Privacy-Preserving’ Brave Search - MacRumors

Brave Search is Brave’s answer to customers wanting a “privacy-preserving” search engine, and it’s built using Brave’s own “independent index, and doesn’t track users, their searches, or their clicks.”

I love Brave, but I wish it was more mature & feature complete. In a few years, it could be a very really Safari-alternative.

Report: Facebook to Change Its Name Next Week to Better Reflect Company’s ‘Metaverse’ - MacRumors

Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to shift people’s mindset around Facebook, no longer limiting it to just a social media company but to “being a metaverse company.”

This just feels evil.

Apple’s New $19 Polishing Cloth is Sold Out Until Late November - MacRumors

My Christmas is toast if it doesn’t arrive on time!

The start of something beautiful.

About to clean the attic.

I’m tired just thinking about it.

📦📦📦

As Afghanistan Sinks Into Destitution, Some Sell Children to Survive - WSJ

Desperate to feed her family, Saleha, a housecleaner here in western Afghanistan, has incurred such an insurmountable debt that the only way she sees out is to hand over her 3-year-old daughter, Najiba, to the man who lent her the money. The debt is $550.

The United States cannot fix all of the world’s problems. But this is one problem that was addressed by our presence in Afghanistan.

The human suffering as a result of this single, immoral decision is difficult to fathom.

Oceans Thirteen

🍿

Gorgeous sunset.