Light at the end of the Tunnel?
Pessimism still remains high, but there is hope. As James Freeman notes in the WSJ, the possibility of competent leadership is improving the national mood.
It’s a little early to be confident about the trend regarding the sudden bump in the percentage of Americans saying the country is on the right track. Polls are often inaccurate and they are just a snapshot of public preferences.
… but a few recent surveys are picking up rather dramatic shifts.
According to Emerson College Polling (30 January):
A majority of voters (52%) think the United States is headed in the right direction, while 48% think it is on the wrong track. This is a significant shift from earlier this month when 67% said the country was on the wrong track and 33% in the right direction.
A Cheaper, Less Annoying Government
Given that Washington spends much more than it collects in taxes—and that it must allow economic growth lest collections fall even further behind—the need is urgent. Today is a day when it’s not crazy to think it just might happen.
As anyone who has already fallen regarding her New Year’s resolution, putting DC on a diet was never going to be easy. Is there be a way to show how it could be done?
Imagine there’s a federal department that never should have been allowed to intrude in local decision-making and in its 45 undistinguished years has only exacerbated the problem it was allegedly created to solve.
From the Journal’s Matt Barnum, Liz Essley Whyte and Ken Thomas:
Trump administration officials are weighing executive actions to dismantle the Education Department… The officials have discussed an executive order that would shut down all functions of the agency that aren’t written explicitly into statute or move certain functions to other departments, according to people familiar with the matter.
The order would call for developing a legislative proposal to abolish the department, the people said. Trump’s advisers are debating the specifics of the order and the timing, the people said.
No Comment
The order, however, would be a step toward fulfilling a Trump campaign promise to:
- eliminate the department
- limit federal involvement in education
- give more authority to the states.
Closing agencies that are unproductive or worse, argues Mr. Freeman, will help to demonstrate the sincerity of reformers, building credibility for the more significant reforms to come.
Another good start would be to shutter a financial regulator that was somehow created 15 years ago without a mandate to protect the safety and soundness of the institutions it regulates. Can you imagine a more reckless approach to banking?
The Trump Administration Onboard
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is ordering a freeze to work at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, after being named its acting director by President Trump.
In an internal email Monday, Bessent’s office directed CFPB staff to cease much of the bureau’s work, including on enforcement actions and decisions about active litigation. The email also directs staff to suspend the effective dates for rules that had been completed, but aren’t yet in effect.
A Beautiful Test
The White House described a new Trump executive order on Friday:
The Order requires that whenever an agency promulgates a new rule, regulation, or guidance, it must identify at least 10 existing rules, regulations, or guidance documents to be repealed…
It requires that for fiscal year 2025, the total incremental cost of all new regulations, including repealed regulations, be significantly less than zero.
As Mr. Freeman notes, bureaucracies must not only avoid doing economic harm, but are prohibited from doing anything at all unless they can show a benefit.
Americans are going to need to find a lot of benefits that add up to an economy large enough and a government small enough to sustain our great democratic experiment.
Congressional Budget Office director Phillip Swagel recently noted his latest forecast of federal finances:
According to Congressional Budget Office director Phillip Swagel:
(CBO projects) that in 2029, debt will surpass its high in 1946 of 106 percent of GDP. Social Security’s Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund will be exhausted in 2033…
Net interest costs are a major contributor to the deficit. In the coming years, net interest costs are projected to be similar to the amounts of discretionary spending for either defense or nondefense activities.
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