Time to Move on to Other Issues
Author: Greg Valliere
April 5, 2023
IN THE MEANTIME, IT’S TIME TO MOVE ON to other issues as Trump fatigue sets in and other indictments — especially in Georgia — loom this summer. As for yesterday’s circus, we generally agree with the Wall Street Journal editorial this morning; it details how weak this case looks.
TRUMP’S LEGAL PROBLEMS WILL PERSIST, but other major issues shouldn’t be overlooked. Our goal is to focus on these other important themes, including the following:
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: Had it not been for the Trump circus, this would have dominated the news as spring began. There’s a growing sense that Washington may have to step up regulation; it’s the hottest policy issue in Washington today.
RENEWED POLITICAL PRESSURE FROM WESTERN EUROPE on China, starting with visits to Beijing from Emmanuel Macron and others later this week to urge the Chinese to lean on Russia to accept a truce in Ukraine.
AN ANNOUNCEMENT LATER THIS WEEK from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, describing what the Internal Revenue Service plans to do with the staggering $80 billion over the next decade that it won from Congress to fund tougher tax enforcement and higher revenues — a very hot topic as April 15 approaches.
A CONTINUED FOCUS ON SHAKY BANKS and the lack of aggressive regulatory oversight by the Federal Reserve, which also has to keep monetary policy tight for several more months.
THE DRAMATIC SHIFT IN THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION toward accepting fossil fuels. Biden’s decision in March to open up millions of acres in Alaska for oil drilling infuriated environmentalists; it was the most significant energy policy development in years.
THE SPUTTERING EFFORT TO AVOID A DEBT DETAULT, as both parties talk past each other. A spending deal will be extremely partisan, but that’s do-able. A separate deal to raise the debt ceiling will require some House radicals to accept a compromise — but they’re not remotely close to making that deal.
THE SURPRISINGLY SLOW start this year by House Republicans, who seem unable to agree on legislation — immigration in particular — and on investigative hearings, which they hyped last year but that’s gone nowhere.
THE PENDING ANNOUNCEMENT BY JOE BIDEN that he’s running again, even as a majority of Democrats say they would prefer someone younger.
ANOTHER BIG NON-TRUMP STORY ERUPTED LAST NIGHT — victories by the left in two crucial elections. Democrats prevailed in a Wisconsin Supreme Court vote, which reinforces the likelihood that abortion will be an albatross for northern Republicans. And in Chicago, the tough on crime candidate lost.
THE ASTONISHING RECOVERY in America’s biggest state, with the biggest economy — as California’s drought ended in a mere three months, which will avoid the Draconian water rationing that was coming this year.
THERE ARE MANY OTHER MAJOR STORIES that have been obscured by the Trump circus. Yes, politics in this country will stay dysfunctional — we simply have to live with that — but it’s time to focus on some other issues.
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