Tag: Steven Mnuchin

April 2, a Two-Act Briefing: Money, Money, Money, and ICU? I See You.

 

The April 2 Coronavirus Task Force briefing was even better than April 1. Secretary Mnuchin played Santa Claus, followed by Rear Admiral John Polowczyk (Vanna, can I buy a vowel?) announcing, and demonstrating, complete dominance over the supply and demand for relevant critical medical supplies. He truly knows who has been naughty and nice, and who has been crying wolf on supply shortages. State and local officials would do well to understand what he just announced, and get their acts together if their stuff is not already tightly wrapped. America will win; the Navy has arrived, along with every other military service.

Oh, and it should come as no surprise that reporters are calling for Orange Man Bad to become dictator, to seize and command the means of production. Really. They clearly have not thought through what that would mean if President Trump was then reelected. Thankfully, he continues to praise the American people and their beautiful businesses.

I will post the transcript, highlight and comment, as soon as it posts to whitehouse.gov/news.

Lock Them Up, After Giving Them the Full Manafort Treatment!

 

Late on 7 May 2019, the New York Times “broke” a story handed to them by Democrat Party operatives within the IRS, the New York State Department of Taxation and Revenue, or the New York City Department of Finance. Anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that these are the three possible employers of one or more employees who would, because of their positions in those particular agencies, have access to the IRS computer databases. The employee or employees reportedly had legal access to the computer database. They improperly accessed the system to steal 10 years of Donald Trump’s tax data from 1985 through 1994.

Each year is a record. That makes at least 10 felony counts, the way the IRS and DOJ play when they actually mean business. It is not a coincidence that the NYT was spoon-fed this data the day after Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin properly refused to hand over the most recent 10 years of Donald Trump’s tax returns to the House Democrats. This has nothing to do with “Russia,” and everything to do with supposedly non-political public employees illegally interfering in the 2020 election, just as the IRS did in 2012.

Richard Epstein grades the Trump Administration’s proposal for tax reform, explains the first principles of effective tax systems, and challenges the notion that progressivity is essential to an equitable tax code.

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America actually welcome the increasing chatter from the left and from the op-ed pages for Democrats to embrace full repeal of the Second Amendment as a way of drawing clear lines in the gun debate.  They also wince as three top Trump cabinet officials reportedly agree to a so-called “suicide pact,” meaning all three will leave office if President Trump fires one of them.  And they slam Michelle Obama for another round of horrible statements, this time claiming people don’t trust politics because Republicans are supposedly all men and all white.

The press secretary, Sarah Sanders, returned to the podium today joined by the secretary of the treasury, Steven Mnuchin, and the national security advisor, H.R. McMasters. Mnuchin and McMasters announced that President Trump has placed sanctions on the regime in Venezuela. In addition, the president’s homeland security adviser, Tom Bossert, discussed ongoing federal preparations for Hurricane Harvey

Senate Confirms Mnuchin, Shulkin

 

The Senate voted Monday to confirm Steven Mnuchin as President Trump’s Treasury Secretary. The 53-47 vote included Joe Manchin (D-WV) as one of the “ayes.” All other Democrats and Independents voted against him. Mnuchin spent most of his career at Goldman Sachs before founding a hedge fund and later financing major Hollywood movies.

Following that decision, the Senate confirmed David Shulkin to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs in a unanimous vote. For the past 18 months, Shulkin served as Obama’s Under Secretary for Health for the VA.

Give Steven Mnuchin a Break: Much Faster Growth Is Possible During the Trump Presidency

 

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I certainly get the skepticism — bordering on mockery — toward this statement from Steven Mnuchin, Donald Trump’s Treasury secretary pick, on CNBC yesterday: “Let me just say our most important priority is sustained economic growth, and I think we can absolutely get to sustained 3 to 4% GDP and that is absolutely critical for the country.”

In response, ace Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell tweeted: “sustained 4% growth, guys! got a bridge to sell you, too.” Indeed, I offered plenty of snark during the GOP presidential primary season when Jeb Bush made hitting a 4% growth target a key campaign policy plank. This blog post, for instance: “Why Jeb’s 4% growth goal might require the Singularity.”