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Policy

From left to right: Governor Jerry Brown, D-Calif., John Kerry, D-Mass., Governor Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., and Governor Jay Inslee, D-Wa., meet in Governor Cuomo's office in New York City. (Photo: Courtesy of the New York Governor's Office)

From left to right: Governor Jerry Brown, D-Calif., John Kerry, D-Mass., Governor Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., and Governor Jay Inslee, D-Wa., meet in Governor Cuomo’s office in New York City. (Photo: Courtesy of the New York Governor’s Office)

The right kind of tax reform can help people directly and indirectly.

  • They benefit directly if reform reduces their tax burden and gives them more take-home income.
  • They benefit indirectly if reform increases growth and leads to additional pre-tax income.

For what it’s worth, I think the indirect impact is most important for family finances, and I discussed the potential benefits of faster growth in this recent interview on Fox Business.

But for today’s column, I want to focus on the final portion of the interview, when I pontificated on how limiting the state and local tax deduction is going to motivate some successful taxpayers to “vote with their  feet” and therefore put additional pressure on high-tax states.

And if we get lower tax rates at the state level, we can include that outcome as another indirect benefit of federal tax reform.

I’m leery of predictions, but I think this will happen. The bottom line is that high-income taxpayers – even before tax reform from Washington – have been escaping from states such as Illinois and California. Here are some fun facts from a recent column in National Review based on IRS data.

Last month, the Internal Revenue Service released the latest tax and migration numbers for 2015 and 2016. …the latest figures show that Florida is seeing an overwhelming influx of taxpayers from other states. In 2015 and 2016, the Sunshine State attracted a staggering net inflow of $17.4 billion in adjusted gross incomes. …the IRS is able to break down new residents by age groups. During the 2015–16 reporting period, nearly 70,000 tax filers between the ages of 26 and 35 moved into the state. That age group accounted for the biggest influx of new Florida residents, over ten thousand more than the 55-and-over category. …The states that lost the most net taxpayers in both dollar and percentage terms relative to their existing tax bases are Connecticut (–$2.7 billion) and New York (–$8.8 billion). What does this tell us? …the size of a state’s government matters. Florida’s per capita state spending is the lowest in the country… Connecticut, meanwhile, has the eighth highest per capita state spending, and New York ranks 15th.

New York has the second heaviest aggregate tax burden of any state, while Florida’s is the fourth lightest.

The Daily Caller combed through some new data from the Census Bureau.

Three Democratic-leaning states hemorrhaged hundreds of thousands of people in 2016 and 2017 as crime, high taxes and, in some cases, crummy weather had residents seeking greener pastures elsewhere. The exodus of residents was most pronounced in New York, which saw about 190,000 people leave the state between July 1, 2016 and July 1, 2017, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released last week.

Illinois lost so many residents that it dropped from the fifth to the sixth-most populous state in 2017, losing its previous spot to Pennsylvania. Just under 115,000 Illinois residents decamped for other states between July 2016 and July 2017. Since 2010, the Land of Lincoln has lost about 650,000 residents to other states on net.

Illinois’ Democratic-dominated legislature has tried to ameliorate the situation with tax hikes, causing even more people to leave and throwing the state into a demographic spiral. Illinois experiences a net loss of about 33,000 residents in 2016, the fourth consecutive year of population decline.

California was the third deep blue state to experience significant domestic out-migration between July 2016 and July 2017, and it couldn’t blame the outflow on retirees searching for a more agreeable climate. About 138,000 residents left the state during that time period, second only to New York.

Even the establishment media is noticing.

Here are excerpts from a recent report in the Mercury News.

A growing number of Bay Area residents — besieged by home prices, worsening traffic, high taxes and a generally more expensive cost of living — believe life would be better just about anywhere else but here. During the 12 months ending June 30, the number of people leaving California for another state exceeded by 61,100 the number who moved here from elsewhere in the U.S., according to state Finance Department statistics. The so-called “net outward migration” was the largest since 2011, when 63,300 more people fled California than entered.

”They are tired of the state of California and the endless taxes here,” said Scott McElfresh, a certified moving consultant. “People are getting soaked every time they turn around.”

And now that state and local taxes will no longer be fully deductible, this out-migration is going to accelerate. Which, of course, will mean added pressure for lower tax rates in states like New York and California. And New Jersey, Illinois, and Connecticut.

Here are some excerpts from a story from Yahoo Finance.

Wall Street tax expert Robert Willens, president of Robert Willens LLC, has never heard more discussion from wealthy New Yorkers about relocating to another state with a more favorable tax environment until now because of the GOP tax plan. “Everybody I speak to brings this up. Every NYC resident I speak to asks about the feasibility involved in doing it,” Willens, who regularly advises hedge fund clients on tax matters as it relates to investing, told Yahoo Finance. “I’ve been doing this more than 40 years, and never heard more discussion about relocating than recently.”

“He believes it will devastate NY (and, to a lesser extent, CA), primarily by ending or severely limiting the deduction of the very high state and local taxes. He estimated that his tax rate (and others [similarly] situated) will go from mid-30% to 56%, which will trigger a massive exodus from NY to places like Florida, which will crush the NYC (and therefore state) economy.”

Kelly Smallridge, the president and CEO of Palm Beach County’s Business Development Board, has seen an uptick in activity from CEOs looking to explore Florida since there’s no state tax on personal income.

The move from the northeast to Florida has been somewhat of a trend in recent years. In the last five years, 60 financial services firms have relocated to the Palm Beach area, Smallridge noted.

If you want to know what states are most vulnerable, the Tax Foundation’s map of state income tax burdens is a good place to start. Also, the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index is another measure of which states over-tax their citizens.

And here’s a survey of small business sentiment that shows which states are viewed as having unfriendly tax codes. Green is good and orange is bad.

And it’s also worth reviewing the evidence that already exists for tax-motivated migration.

Here’s a map showing the entire country and here’s a map showing the exodus from California.

Let’s close with this amusing cartoon strip.

High-income taxpayers have been escaping from high-tax states

Policy

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. (Photo: Courtesy of the Greek Government)

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. (Photo: Courtesy of the Greek Government)

I’ve written that it’s theoretically possible for Greece to pay its debts and restore prosperity. After all, it’s simply a matter of obeying fiscal policy’s Golden Rule and reforming a suffocating tax system.

But I’ve always figured none of that will happen because Greek voters would never vote for a government that favors Reagan-style or Thatcher-style economic reforms.

Economist Daniel J. Mitchell's Theorem of Societal Collapse

Economist Daniel J. Mitchell’s Theorem of Societal Collapse

Simply stated, there are too may Greek people living off the state. But that’s just part of the problem. An even bigger obstacle to reform is that the people have decided that it’s morally acceptable to mooch off the government.

As a result, I’ve assumed that Greece has passed a tipping point because the moral foundation of Greek society has been corroded by dependency. And it’s very difficult to put that toothpaste back in the tube.

But maybe I’ve been wrong. Courtesy of the great people at the Atlas Network, here’s some remarkable polling data from Greece.

…the people may finally be fed up with big government, runaway spending, public-sector corruption, and job-killing regulations. A recent in-depth survey, published by the daily Kathimerini newspaper and the new think tank Dianeosis, reveals that Greek society seems to be experiencing an ideological sea change.

On a philosophical level, Greeks seem to be embracing the principles of classical liberalism.

In Greece, the term “liberalism” retains its classical meaning of support for individual liberty, free markets, and social tolerance. The latest finding from the Dianeosis poll shows that 27 percent of respondents identify as either liberal or neoliberal, together making the largest ideological group for the country’s overall population. These ideas have taken even stronger hold among the rising generation, with an astonishing 50 percent of Greek youth identifying as either liberals or neoliberals.

And this translates into greater support for small-government policies.

About 60 percent agree that government is intervening too much in economic matters, and thereby prevents the private sector from creating jobs and wealth.

Here’s some of the relevant polling data.

It’s also encouraging to see that there was movement in the right direction between April 2015 and December 2016.

On a policy level, the Greeks now seem to recognize that the state is too big.

Even more telling is that the majority of Greeks, 55 percent, believe that lower taxation is preferable even if that results in less government welfare. This finding is particularly important because two years ago only 39.2 percent agreed with that statement.

Here are those numbers from the survey.

The last bit of good news from the survey is that Greeks have positive feelings about market-oriented terms.

Greeks today also seem to show overwhelming support for many fundamental concepts of the free-market tradition. About 73 percent agreed that “markets” have a positive connotation…a primary reason for this turn toward free markets is that the government regimes in Greece have clearly failed, thereby tainting their devotion to destructive statism and populism. This has caused many Greeks to consider economic freedom as a viable solution for the country’s devastating problems.

On the other hand, the country they most want to mimic is Sweden.

And it’s not even close, though I wonder if this chart would look different if Switzerland and Hong Kong were options.

You may be wondering (like me) how the Greeks can tell pollsters they want smaller government while simultaneously picking Sweden as a role model?

The pessimistic answer is that Greeks don’t know what they’re talking about. Or maybe they are hypocrites, willing to pay lip service to economic liberty but ultimately yearning for a cradle-to-grave welfare state.

The optimistic answer is that Sweden actually is a pretty good role model.

Check out this comparison of Greece and Sweden, based on data from Economic Freedom of the World. Sweden is ranked #27, which is in the top-20 percent of nations for economic liberty. Greece, by contrast, is way down at #116.

Yes, both countries have terrible fiscal policy, but it turns out that Sweden is very market-oriented in areas like money, trade, regulation, and rule of law. And even though it still has a long way to go, Sweden significantly improved fiscal policy in the 1990s and has even enjoyed some modest improvement in recent years.

That’s definitely not the case in Greece.

In other words, I certainly don’t mind if Swedish policy is the short-run goal for Greek voters. If they ever get to that point, then I’ll try to convince them to go the Full Hong Kong.

P.S. In the real world, are there any examples of countries that have escaped statism and enjoyed something akin to a Greece-to-Sweden jump in economic liberty?

The answer is yes. Chile would be an obvious example, as would certain post-Soviet Bloc nations such as Estonia.

It would be great to add Greece to the collection.

A recent in-depth survey finds Greece and

Companies

A Wall Street sign is pictured outside the New York Stock Exchange in New York, October 28, 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

A Wall Street sign is pictured outside the New York Stock Exchange in New York, October 28, 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

The Democrat-Big Media coalition repeatedly referred to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as a throwback to Wall Street, but big banks are bracing for overseas profits cuts as a result of the overhaul.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a filing on Friday that tax reform will cut profit this year by about $5 billion, largely because it targets earnings held abroad. Roughly two-thirds of the hit comes from what is known as the repatriation tax, while writing down U.S. deferred tax assets also contributed.

The bank, which gets about 40% of its revenues overseas, also announced they are moving up the delivery of previously granted stock awards to many of its top executives to lower its taxable profit subject to this year’s higher rates.

Bank stocks have rallied on the tax bill’s lower corporate rates, the first overhaul to the U.S. tax code in more than 31 years requires charges in the near-term as foreign earnings face taxation.

Republicans have argued for repatriation for years as U.S. companies found ways to legally park money overseas to avoid the higher U.S. corporate tax. It is expected those companies will repatriate that money to the U.S., giving the economy an injection estimated as low as $2.5 trillion and as high as $6 trillion.

Citigroup Inc. said it expects a hit of as much as $20 billion, while Bank of America Corp. will take a $3 billion charge and Credit Suisse Group AG is at risk of posting a third consecutive annual loss.

The Democrat-Big Media coalition referred to the

Politics

President Donald J. Trump delivers remarks on tax reform at the state fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Wednesday September 27, 2017. (Photo: PPD)

President Donald J. Trump delivers remarks on tax reform at the state fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Wednesday September 27, 2017. (Photo: PPD)

President Donald Trump said in a wide-ranging impromptu interview with The New York Times that he is “going to be treated fairly” by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and ultimately vindicated.

“It makes the country look very bad, and it puts the country in a very bad position,” President Trump said of the investigation. “So the sooner it’s worked out, the better it is for the country.”

Asked whether he would order the Justice Department to reopen the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails, he pivoted to the Russia investigation.

“I have absolute right to do what I want to do with the Justice Department,” he said, echoing claims by his supporters that as president he has the power to open or end an investigation. “But for purposes of hopefully thinking I’m going to be treated fairly, I’ve stayed uninvolved with this particular matter.”

In a not-so veiled reference and criticism of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Mr. Trump praised his predecessor Eric Holder. While he is the first nation’s top cop to be held in contempt by the U.S. Congress, it is his loyalty to Barack Obama that the president praised.

“I don’t want to get into loyalty, but I will tell you that, I will say this: Holder protected President Obama. Totally protected him,” Mr. Trump said. He added: “When you look at the things that they did, and Holder protected the president. And I have great respect for that, I’ll be honest.”

The President has repeatedly called the Russian investigation a “witch hunt” the credibility of the special counsel has been called into question not only by Republicans but also legal experts on both sides. Numerous members of his Democrat-heavy team known for their questionable ethical behavior have been fired for anti-Trump bias.

The probe has cost taxpayers more than $7 million, including roughly $1.2 million in salaries and benefits.

President Trump again noted Democrats invented the Russia allegations “as a hoax, as a ruse, as an excuse for losing an election.” He said that “everybody knows” his associates did not collude with the Russians, even as he insisted that the “real stories” are about Democrats who worked with Russians during the 2016 campaign.

“There’s been no collusion,” he repeated. “But I think he’s going to be fair.”

As People’s Pundit Daily (PPD) previously reported, former employees for Democrat-lobbying firm The Podesta Group were peppered with questions about Tony Podesta’s role in lobbying the Congress and Clinton State Department for favorable treatment of Ukraine when it was a satellite state of Russia.

Tony, the brother to former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and co-founder, resigned in disgrace.

President Donald Trump said in a wide-ranging

Polls

President Donald Trump, left, addresses the 72nd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 19, 2017, while former President Barack Obama, right, addresses the UNGA on September 28, 2015. (Photos: Reuters)

President Donald Trump, left, addresses the 72nd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 19, 2017, while former President Barack Obama, right, addresses the UNGA on September 28, 2015. (Photos: Reuters)

President Donald Trump’s year-end approval ratings as tracked by Rasmussen Reports for December, 2017 mirror Barack Obama’s in 2009, almost exactly. Rasmussen, which tracked both presidents and called the 2016 election correctly, finds 46% of likely voters approve of the job President Trump is doing, while 53% disapprove.

That is identical to the spread on December 29 and December 31, 2009 after Mr. Obama’s first year. There was no polling from December 25 to 27 in 2009, but December 27 was included in the sample for 2017.

Worth noting, the intensity index known as the Presidential Approval Index, which is the disparity between voters who “strongly” approve or disapprove, is actually more favorable to President Trump than it was for Mr. Obama.

“When comparing apples to apples, President Trump’s numbers are about as high as Obama’s at this point in his presidency,” Rich Baris, PPD editor and Director of the Big Data Poll said. “That’s particularly surprising given the disparity in the media coverage each received.”

The Pew Research Center’s year-ending report titled “17 Striking Findings From 2017” finds early coverage of President Trump was three times more negative than it was for Mr. Obama. Sixty-percent (62%) was negative during President Trump’s first year juxtaposed to just 20% negative for Mr. Obama in 2009.

The negative coverage this year for President Trump was also twice that of former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

“He was the first president in my memory to be deprived of the ‘honeymoon’ period after Inauguration Day,” Baris added. “While it’s true Rasmussen Reports has been more favorable to the president than other approval polls throughout the year, it’s also true that they have established a better track record of measuring his support than other polls.”

The latest presidential approval tracking spread include 29% who “Strongly Approve” of President Trump and 44% who “Strongly Disapprove,” giving him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -15. That’s about where it has been since December 21, while Mr. Obama hovered between -12 and -18.

Read Also — Trump’s First Year Accomplishments Compiled In Shockingly Long List

Daily tracking results are collected via telephone surveys of 500 likely voters per night and reported on a three-day rolling average basis. To reach those who have abandoned traditional landline telephones, Rasmussen Reports uses an online survey tool to interview randomly selected participants from a demographically diverse panel. The margin of sampling error for the full sample of 1,500 Likely Voters is +/- 2.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

President Donald Trump's year-end approval ratings as

Economy

SUV parts are fabricated in the stamping facility at the General Motors Assembly Plant on June 9, 2015. (Photo: Reuters)

SUV parts are fabricated in the stamping facility at the General Motors Assembly Plant on June 9, 2015. (Photo: Reuters)

The MNI Chicago Business Barometer unexpectedly rose to 67.6 in December, easily beating the forecast and hitting the highest level since March 2011. The median economic forecast for the month was 62.5, down from 63.9 in November.

“Sentiment among businesses started 2017 in good shape and only impressed more as the year progressed,” said Jamie Satchi, Economist at MNI Indicators. “December’s result secured the MNI Chicago Business Barometer’s first full year of expansion since 2014 and with New Orders ending the quarter in fine shape there is every chance this form could be carried over into 2018.”

On a quarterly basis, the MNI (Market News International) Chicago Business Barometer rose to 65.9 in the fourth quarter (Q4) from 61.0 in Q3, the best quarterly performance since Q1 2011. It’s only the third time in the last decade there have been three consecutive above-60 readings in the Oct-Dec period

The MNI Chicago Business Barometer unexpectedly rose

Economy

A shopper passes a ''Sale'' sign at Quincy Market in downtown in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. January 11, 2017. (Photo: Reuters)

A shopper passes a ”Sale” sign at Quincy Market in downtown in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. January 11, 2017. (Photo: Reuters)

The advance monthly inventory data for November show builds for both retailers and wholesalers, at 0.1% and 0.7%, respectively. Both are positives for gross domestic product (GDP) even as preliminary estimates on the trade deficit widened.

Advance International Trade in Goods

The international trade deficit was $69.7 billion in November, up $1.6 billion from $68.1 billion in October. Exports of goods for November were $133.7 billion, $3.8 billion more than October exports. Imports of goods for November were $203.4 billion, $5.4 billion more than October imports.

Advance Wholesale Inventories

Wholesale inventories for November, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $610.2 billion, up 0.7% (±0.4%) from October 2017, and were up 3.8% (±0.7%) from November 2016. The September 2017 to October 2017 percentage change was revised from down 0.5 percent (±0.4%) to down 0.4% (±0.4%)*.

Advance Retail Inventories

Retail inventories for November, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $619.1 billion, up 0.1% (±0.2%)* from October 2017, and were up 1.9% (±0.5%) from November 2016. The September 2017 to October 2017 percentage change was unrevised at virtually unchanged (±0.2%)*.

* MoE

The advance monthly inventory data for November

Economy

Jobless claims, an application for first-time unemployment benefits. (Photo: Reuters)

Jobless claims, an application for first-time unemployment benefits. (Photo: Reuters)

First-time applications for jobless claims came in at a seasonally adjusted 245,000 for the week ending December 23, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised level of 245,000. The 4-week moving average was 237,750, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 236,000.

Worth noting, this report is clouded by the fact 15 states were estimated and claims-taking procedures continue to be disrupted in the Virgin Islands. Further, the claims taking process in Puerto Rico has still not returned to normal.

Extended Benefits were available in Alaska during the week ending December 9.

The insured unemployment rate was unchanged at a very low 1.4% for the week ending December 16 and the advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 16 was 1,943,000. That’s an increase of 7,000 from the previous week, which was revised up 4,000 from 1,932,000 to 1,936,000.

However, the 4-week moving average was 1,919,750, a decrease of 4,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 1,000 from 1,923,000 to 1,924,000.

Overall, the highly-estimated reported doesn’t changed the strong labor market conditions ahead of the monthly report on the employment situation next week.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending December 9 were in Puerto Rico (5.9), Alaska (4.1), the Virgin Islands (3.6), New Jersey (2.3), California (2.2), Montana (2.2), Connecticut(2.1), Pennsylvania (2.1), Illinois (1.9), and Massachusetts (1.9).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending December 16 were in New York (+2,168), Ohio (+2,062), Massachusetts (+1,928), Indiana (+927), and New Jersey (+894), while the largest decreases were in Puerto Rico (-1,225), South Carolina (-708), West Virginia (-611), Michigan (-518), and Illinois (-492).

First-time applications for jobless claims came in

Politics

President Donald Trump poses for a portrait in the Oval Office in Washington, Friday, April 21, 2017. (Photo: AP)

President Donald Trump poses for a portrait in the Oval Office in Washington, Friday, April 21, 2017. (Photo: AP)

Looking back on President Donald Trump’s first year in office, he has compiled a shockingly strong record and long list of accomplishments. As was also the case with his rise to the presidency, President Trump has broken several records for a first-year commander-in-chief and fulfilled many of his key campaign promises.

Now, that’s not to say he hasn’t had failures and it’s not to mask the fact that many of these accomplishments were unilateral. But it is also true that President Trump has faced an unprecedented level of never-ending obstruction throughout the year. He was the first president in memory to be deprived of the “honeymoon” period after Inauguration Day and, frankly, opposition at times has risen to levels that could arguably constitute downright treason.

Sure, his presidency, much like his campaign, has been unconventional and his governing style appears to pundits and mediates to be rather messy.

And that’s exactly what America should’ve expected.

America didn’t elect Donald J. Trump to get more of the same and D.C. wouldn’t have had such a vial backlash had he not been trying to keep the promises he made to the American people. Had it been business as usual this year, then we would have grown suspect.

Here’s a long but still incomplete list of accomplishments during his first year in office. For those who believe the list isn’t at all long, we challenge you to read the whole article in one sitting. Some you will recognize and some you will not. But these are just some of the actions we believe will impact Americans’ lives and, in some cases, the human race.

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

President Donald J. Trump speaks during a celebratory bill passage event following the final passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act by Congress. (Photo: AP)

President Donald J. Trump speaks during a celebratory bill passage event following the final passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act by Congress. (Photo: AP)

President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act before Christmas, ensuring U.S. business commitments for bonus payouts to at least hundreds of thousands of Americans workers. Within hours, numerous businesses announced wage increases and billions of dollars in various industry investments.

It was the first overhaul to the U.S. tax code in 31 years, but that’s not all it was.

Repealed Individual Mandate

The tax overhaul also repealed the individual mandate in ObamaCare. Republicans targeted the individual mandate during arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court and lost because the Bush-appointed Chief Justice John Roberts rewrote the law to uphold it.

The U.S. Senate attempted a half-hearted ObamaCare repeal after 7 years of campaign promises, and failed. They attempted to pass a so-called “skinny repeal,” and failed again. It was the businessman outsider with no political experience who worked with a few senators to sneak in a repeal of the least popular ObamaCare provision at the last minute, and it worked.

Big Media was working overtime for the Democratic Party to mislead the American people about the bill and they didn’t see it coming until it was too late. Democrats were left to pretend as if they were happy the individual mandate was repealed because they could pass off the blame for already-rising premiums on Republicans.

It remains to be seen whether that tactic works. But for Republican voters freedom and choice are more important than scoring political points. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) — an agency that once targeted them for their political beliefs — has been weakened.

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)

For nearly 40 years, Republicans have tried and failed to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for oil drilling. Since the 1980s, the effort always failed in the face of intense opposition because weak congressional Republicans were too afraid of the Democrat-Big Media coalition.

They repeatedly abandoned the decades-old campaign promise.

Yet, a provision for drilling in ANWR was included in the President’s signature tax bill with minimal backlash.

Justice Neil Gorsuch

Judge Neil Gorsuch, his wife Louise, with President Donald Trump during the nomination announcement in the East Room of the White House on January 31, 2017. (Photo: White House)

Judge Neil Gorsuch, his wife Louise, with President Donald Trump during the nomination announcement in the East Room of the White House on January 31, 2017. (Photo: White House)

President Trump nominated and the U.S. Senate confirmed Justice Neil Gorsuch, despite unprecedented opposition and obstruction by Senate Democrats. Many of those same Democratic senators, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., unanimously confirmed Justice Gorsuch to his prior role in a voice vote back in 2006.

As People’s Pundit Daily (PPD) has previously examined, the Democratic Party historically has been the party of obstruction with judicial appointments, particularly relating to the Supreme Court.

“We’ve cemented the Supreme Court right-of-center for a generation,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kty., said while rattling off his own list of year-one accomplishments during the celebration for tax reform at the White House. “Mr. President, thanks to your nominees, we’ve put 12 circuit court judges in place — the most since the circuit court system was established in 1891.”

Set Record for First-Year Judicial Appointments to Federal Appellate Courts

President Donald Trump speaks to the press alongside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R), Republican of Kentucky, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, October 16, 2017. (Photo: Reuters)

President Donald Trump speaks to the press alongside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R), Republican of Kentucky, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, October 16, 2017. (Photo: Reuters)

President Trump on December 14 officially set a record for the most federal appeals judges appointed during the first year of a presidency, more than any other before him. The U.S. Senate pushed through the twelfth federal appeals court nominee that day, breaking the previous record held jointly by Presidents Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy.

As we’ve seen front-and-center during the first year of the Trump Administration, judicial appointments can have a very significant impact on public policy and a president’s legacy. Democrats are particularly inclined to engage in “judge-shopping” when they fail to muster enough support for an initiative at the ballot box or implement policy through the legislative process.

That was the case with same-sex marriage, abortion, unfettered illegal immigration and numerous landmark decisions that have real-world impact on everyday life and the future of the nation.

For context, Barack Obama nominated and the Democrat-controlled Senate successfully confirmed only 3 appeals court judges in his first year in office in 2009. Former President George W. Bush got six federal judges confirmed.

As of mid-December, 19 of President Trump’s 66 total nominees this year have been confirmed.

Historic Reduction in Illegal Immigration

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, right, listens to U.S. President Donald Trump during a meeting with cyber security experts in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington January 31, 2017. (Photo: Reuters)

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, right, listens to U.S. President Donald Trump during a meeting with cyber security experts in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington January 31, 2017. (Photo: Reuters)

President Trump made cracking down on illegal immigration the centerpiece of his campaign and end-of-year statistics from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) show historic success during the first year of his administration.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in FY 2017 reported a 23.7% decline over the previous year. Illegal migration along the Southwest border declined sharply from January 21 to April, which was the lowest month of border enforcement activity on record. In FY 2017, CBP reported the lowest level of illegal cross-border migration ever on record.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Removal Operations (ERO) conducted 143,470 arrests and removed 226,119 illegal aliens, an increase of 40% from the previous fiscal year. From the start of the Trump Administration on January 20, 2017 through the end of the fiscal year, ERO made 110,568 arrests juxtaposed to 77,806 in FY 2016, also an increase of 40%.

Worth noting, 92%, or 101,722 illegal aliens arrested by ICE during the Trump Administration, either had a criminal conviction or a pending criminal charge, were an ICE fugitive, or were an illegal re-entrant. In other words, he isn’t ripping babies out of their mother’s arms and dreamers out of their homes en masse as the hysterical media portray.

Crushing ISIS Caliphate

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, accompanied by U.S. President Donald J. Trump, speaks after his swearing-in ceremony on February 1, 2017. (Photo: Reuters)

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, accompanied by U.S. President Donald J. Trump, speaks after his swearing-in ceremony on February 1, 2017. (Photo: Reuters)

In October, the U.S. Pentagon confirmed to People’s Pundit Daily (PPD) that Raqqa, the “capital of terrorism” in Syria, had fallen. Secretary Rex Tillerson said the fall of the Islamic State (ISIS) capital was accelerated by “critical decisions” made by President Trump.

“In January, ISIS was actively plotting terrorist attacks against our allies and our homeland in Raqqa,” Secretary Tillerson noted. “Nine short months later, it is out of ISIS’s control due to critical decisions President Trump made to accelerate the campaign.”

U.S. military officials said this week that ISIS has lost 98% of the territory it once held and the latest U.S. intelligence assessment reveals fewer than 1,000 ISIS militants remain in Iraq and Syria, down from a peak of nearly 45,000 when the Islamic caliphate rose to power under Mr. Obama just two years ago.

The fall of the caliphate is a crushing blow to ISIS because the physical caliphate served as validation to would-be recruits that Allah was on their side. With the caliphate gone, it appears to the believer that Allah has abandoned their cause.

Resurgence of U.S. Economy — the American Spirit

President Donald Trump hosts a meeting with business leaders in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington on Monday January 23, 2017. (Photo: Reuters)

President Donald Trump hosts a meeting with business leaders in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington on Monday January 23, 2017. (Photo: Reuters)

In February, Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris said that the Trump Administration is “probably the most pro-business administration since the founding fathers.” His remarks came after attending a meeting with President Trump, who hosted manufacturing leaders at the White House almost one month exactly after his inauguration.

Roughly 10 months later, forecast models project the U.S. economy to grow by 3% or higher in the fourth quarter (4Q) 2017.

Under Mr. Obama, “experts” told us we just had to live with the new normal — 2% annual economic growth.

Now, if the 4Q forecasts are matched or exceeded, it’ll mark the third straight quarter of economic growth at or above 3% for the first time since 2004. It also means the first year of economic growth under President Trump is all but certain to surpass the strongest under his predecessor Mr. Obama.

Under Mr. Obama, “experts” told us we just had to live with the new normal — no manufacturing base.

Now, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) said manufacturers’ optimism in the 4Q of 2017 is the highest in the 20-year history of the Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey. The NAM said the survey has “risen to unprecedented heights” as a result of the tax reform bill.

As with tax reform, this should be broken down into separate subcategories of accomplishments. But make no mistake, President Trump’s policies have fueled historic levels of optimism among consumers and businesses.

Stock Market Records, Wealth Creation

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has hit record highs nearly 70 times in 2017 and U.S. markets have created roughly 6.3 trillion in new wealth. In 2017, Americans’ 401Ks appreciated by 25% to 33% and Bank of America is forecasting the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite to rise at least another 12% and 16%, respectively, in 2018.

Deregulation: Rolling Back the Militant Administrative State

“What the economists and market strategists have totally underestimated in their GDP forecasting is the positive effect from the multi-agency regulatory roll back from the Trump Administration,” TJM Investments analyst Tim Anderson said. “This has led to a record high level of business confidence indicators and most recently the highest level of industrial production in 3 years.”

Mr. Anderson is in part referring to what is known as a Congressional Review Act (CRA), a tool used by the Trump Administration to unravel regulations put in place by his predecessor. President Trump also signed an executive order requiring agencies to rollback 2 regulations for every new one they created.

However, as of mid-December, President Trump’s policies have resulted in a 22-to-1 deregulation ratio, crushing his goal.

The window for using the CRA closed in early May. President Trump and congressional Republicans made historic use of it. The 21-year-old law that created CRAs, a fast track for reversing “midnight rules” finalized within the last 60 days of a presidential administration, had been used only once before the Trump Administration.

Republicans had hoped for 6 to 12 rollbacks, but were successful in 14 of their 15 attempts. It saved the U.S. economy billions.

The Trump Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Scott Pruitt dismantled the Waters of the United States and the Clean Power Plan, a slew of significant and unpopular Obama-era regulations. The Trump Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under Ajit Pai repealed net neutrality.

The Trump Department of Education under Betsy DeVos revoked Title IX, which created “kangaroo courts” that rob the accused of due process and too often destroyed their lives without cause.

Reviving the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

In his first 100 days, President Trump signed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017, which acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot said was vital for “our nation’s space, aeronautics, science, and technology development programs to thrive.”

While it garners little attention – no doubt because we tend to view legislation in terms of partisan victories – the authorization act will have longstanding impact on the nation and humankind. Mr. Lightfoot added that the bill “ensures our nation’s space program will remain the world’s leader in pioneering new frontiers in exploration, innovation, and scientific achievement.”

In December, President Trump signed White House Space Policy Directive 1, a public-private partnership for human missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. The U.S.-led program represents the latest change in national space policy under the Trump Administration aimed at renewing U.S. engagement in space.

In July, President Trump revived the National Space Council and empowered them to help implement his space policy — to make human exploration of the solar system a national priority. White House Space Policy Directive 1 was the result of a unanimous recommendation made by the new council, which is chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, after its first meeting on October 5.

We don’t think we have to explain how important of an impact the Trump Administration’s policy could have on the human race. We’ll just leave you with this on the subject.

“This work represents a national effort on many fronts, with America leading the way. We will engage the best and brightest across government and private industry and our partners across the world to reach new milestones in human achievement,” Administration Lightfoot said of the directive. “The next generation will dream even bigger and reach higher as we launch challenging new missions, and make new discoveries and technological breakthroughs on this dynamic path.”

VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act (VA Reforms)

President Donald J. Trump held up the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 on June 23, 2017. (Photo: AP)

President Donald J. Trump held up the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 on June 23, 2017. (Photo: AP)

In June, President Trump signed the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act. The legislation fulfilled a major campaign promise and was the most significant reform bill in the history of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

It gave Secretary David Shulkin and VA leadership the power to fire bad employees for misconduct and provided more whistleblower protection to those who report wrongdoing. The VA is now required to release a monthly report detailing whatever disciplinary actions have been taken during that month each month since the bill was signed.

And it’s working. After the very first month, more than 500 employees had been fired for bad behavior as a result. The Adverse Actions Report also showed more than 180 had been put on suspension for a period greater than 14 days.

The Trump Administration has taken veterans’ issues head on since taking office. The White House created the VA accountability office, launched a website posting wait-times at hospitals and a same-day mental health care initiative at each facility.

The President also signed the The Veteran’s Affairs Choice and Quality Employment Act of 2017, which begins permitting qualified veterans to get the care of their choice.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Reforms

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, talks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, and President Donald Trump during a family photo with G7 leaders at the Ancient Greek Theater of Taormina during the G7 Summit, Friday, May 26, 2017, in Taormina, Italy. (Photo: AP)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, talks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, and President Donald Trump during a family photo with G7 leaders at the Ancient Greek Theater of Taormina during the G7 Summit, Friday, May 26, 2017, in Taormina, Italy. (Photo: AP)

As People’s Pundit Daily (PPD) recently explained, there are two main strategies nation-states use to gain power and prevent aggressors from tipping the balance of power: balancing and buck-passing.

Balancing is when states make a serious commitment to deter and contain a rival, by force if necessary. With buck-passing, states will attempt to get another great power to shoulder the costly burden, which is what most NATO-member nations have done to the U.S. for decades. President Trump made it clear in Brussels that the era of buck-passing is over.

Prior to the Trump Administration, only 5 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries had met their obligations: the United States, the United Kingdom, Greece, Poland and Estonia. Germany, which has opened their door and welfare programs to more than a million refugees, was not meeting their obligation.

After years of U.S. administrations allowing NATO to ignore their obligations, President Trump is now employing what is known as “structural realism.” It dominates international relations in security studies and yet it was met with ridicule from D.C. dummies. In truth, once that demand was delivered, they never really had a choice.

President Trump was just the first with enough gall to make it.

81 Signed Legislative Accomplishments

Whether you agree with them all policy-wise or consider them significant accomplishments, is irrelevant. As a data journalism-centered site, we find records noteworthy and this is yet another record. The previous record was held by President Harry S. Truman.

UPDATE: Per requests from readers, we will update this list to make it more comprehensive throughout the week even though the article is already 3,000 words in length.

Looking back on President Donald Trump's first

Economy

A under contract sign on a home previously for sale in Vienna, Va. (Photo: Reuters)

A under contract sign on a home previously for sale in Vienna, Va. (Photo: Reuters)

The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) gained 0.2% to 109.5 in November from 109.3 in October, remaining at its highest reading since June (110.0) and now 0.8% above a year ago.

“The housing market is closing the year on a stronger note than earlier this summer, backed by solid job creation and an economy that has kicked into a higher gear,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said. “However, new buyers coming into the market are finding out quickly that their options are limited and competition is robust. Realtors® say many would-be buyers from earlier this year, stifled by tight supply and higher prices, are still trying to buy a home.”

Sales prices were up 5.8% and the 3.4-month supply of homes on the market was the lowest since NAR began tracking in 1999. With the tightest inventory levels ever and prices at a rate more than double wage growth, Mr. Yun said the question for 2018 to answer is whether available supply levels can gain enough to slow price growth and make buying a home more affordable.

“The strengthening economy, and expectation that more millennials will want to buy, serve as promising signs for solid home-buying demand next year, while also putting additional pressure on inventory levels and affordability,” Mr. Yun added. “Sales do have room for growth in most areas, but nationally, overall activity could be slightly negative. Markets with high home prices and property taxes will likely feel some impact from the reduced tax benefits of owning a home.”

Mr. Yun is forecasting existing-home sales to finish 2017 at around 5.54 million, which is 1.7% higher than 2016 (5.45 million). The national median existing-home price this year is expected to gain by roughly 6%. In 2018, he is forecasting a decline of 0.4% in existing sales (5.52 million), and price growth to moderate to around 2%.

Regionally, the PHSI in the Northeast gained 4.1% to 98.9 in November and is now 1.1% above a year ago. In the Midwest, pending home sales rose slightly 0.4% to 105.8 in November and is now 0.8% higher than November 2016.

Pending home sales in the South fell 0.4% to an index of 123.1 but are still 2.5% higher than they were in November 2016. The index in the West fell 1.8% in November to 100.4 and is now 2.3% below a year ago.

The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) gained

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