The Daly Weekly (9/5)

The "Trump is dead" trend, dealing with Putin, Taylor Swift, and more!

Hi everyone.

Welcome to this week’s Daly Weekly, where I answer whatever questions you throw my way.

Let’s get right to it…

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John, what do you think about the great big beautiful BILL? TAXES would have been raised without it. No taxes from tips. No taxes ON social Security. And there’s more! There’s not much said about the good stuff in this bill. I would appreciate your comment as a Ronald Reagan conservative. — Conrad P.

Hi Conrad. I think it’s important to premise any fiscal discussion with the fact that our national debt is now over $37 trillion (and quickly racing toward $38 trillion) — an absolutely catastrophic number. So, my biggest problem with the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (which is now law) is that it increases spending significantly, and adds trillions more (beyond what was previously projected) to the national debt.

During the Obama years, conservatives correctly understood how serious of a problem the debt was to our nation, children, and grandchildren. The late John McCain used to call it “generational theft,” and he was absolutely right. Unfortunately, when Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016, the GOP abandoned those concerns (at Trump’s direction), and effectively adopted the Democrats’ longtime position on our major entitlement programs (which are by far the biggest drivers of our debt): do not reform them, let them go insolvent, and let our national debt continue to explode.

The OBBB only exacerbates this problem. With its passage, Trump (in just 4.5 years as president) has signed legislation amounting to $13 trillion in debt (far more than any other U.S. president). Also, much of the new tax relief the OBBB provides will do very little (if anything) to spur economic growth; the tips and Social Security tax-cuts (exemptions, really) were basically political carve-outs that made for attractive slogans. And if you’re concerned about taxes, Conrad, Trump’s tariffs (many of which have now been ruled illegal) amount to the largest tax increase in U.S. history.

Are there some things I like in the OBBB? Sure. In a bill so enormous (which was a problem in itself), I’d imagine anyone can find at least one thing they like. But I largely view it as a recklessly unaffordable monstrosity. And frankly, Conrad, if it were Biden who had signed it into law, I’m confident you and many others on the political right would agree with me.

I seems like our political parties forget that voters, unlike genders, are fluid. Obama, Trump, and Biden wield that executive order pen with no mind to the fact that all orders can be undone as soon as a president of the other party gets elected, which happens regularly. These latest efforts at gerrymandering aren't perfect, either. Did the Democratic party ever think that a majority of Hispanics in Texas would vote Republican? Did Republicans think 20 years ago that college educated, suburban voters would mostly vote Democratic in 2024? Real question: Do party leaders not understand the dynamic nature of their constituents, or are they just lazy and short sighted? — Steve R.

Hi Steve. You’re absolutely right about executive orders. I think it’s been a while since we’ve had a president who thinks past their own time and legacy in office. You’re also right about the Democrats taking ethnic minorities for granted. I think the gradual erosion of identity politics is a largely good thing. As for whether party leaders understand the dynamic nature of their constituents, I think they’re finally starting to.

The only thing I find disheartening about this reordering is that I think it’s at least partially attributable to Republican leadership adopting a lot of Democratic positions, and in some cases moving even further left than the Dems. With both parties now primarily focused on grievance politics, the Dems no longer have a lock on the voters that works on.

Remember the good old days when it was the Left that was offended by everything? Yeah... good times.... — John M.

Yep. I keep saying that the new Right is a lot like the old Left, and the increasing desire to be offended (like with the Cracker Barrel debacle) is a prime example. Some people have called this a battle between the Woke Left and the Woke Right, and I understand why.

John, Why can’t Congress unite, and pass, a bipartisan national School Safety Bill, that doesn’t involve the polarizing gun control issue. I’m talking about increased mental health resources, enhanced school security, etc. After the Sandy Hook massacre, I felt for sure Congress would urgently act to protect our kids. Instead, they went straight to politics. And numerous school tragedies later, still, nothing has happened. It’s appalling. I’ve never been more frustrated and angry. — Rob O.

Well, for starters, I’m not sure it’s an issue that is best dealt with federally, as opposed to locally. School systems, mental health laws, and gun laws differ by state, county, city, district, etc… which is part of the reason I’m not sure I agree with you that “nothing has happened.” I think there have been changes in a number of places, and in a number of areas, but there’s unfortunately never going to be a perfect solution.

At the federal level, it’s tough to find bipartisan support for pretty much anything these days, especially on complex issues. And make no mistake about it: mass shootings is a complex issue. On a side note, I interviewed who I would consider an expert on the matter, Stephen Gutowski, just last week for the Reagan Caucus Podcast. I think we had a really discussion, and I encourage people to check it out:

What do you think about the “Trump is dead” stuff that was trending last weekend? Trump said it was an example of how little credibility the media has. —Alex D.

I totally missed it at the time, Alex, because it was purely a social-media thing (and I wasn’t online much). And because it was purely a social-media thing, and no mainstream news outlets picked it up, it doesn’t make any sense to place blame where Trump did. There are plenty of examples of the mainstream news-media lacking credibility, but this isn’t one of them. This was just random people saying dumb stuff online.

Sir John — I agree that Putin is making a patsy out of Trump and I agree with Sir Bernie that Trump’s tough talk against Russia is just another Hot Air response. I would love for Trump and the Republicans to green light sending Ukraine powerful weapons to strike back against Russia. Sir Bernie seems to feel that now is the time for a tough response. So I ask …what do you and Sir Bernie feel would be an effectively tough response to make Putin call it quits? —“Russian Roulette” Regards from The Emperor

I can’t speak for Bernie, Emperor, but I’ve been saying from the very beginning that the United States (and the rest of the free world) should be giving Ukraine the resources (including intelligence) it needs to put a real hurt on Russia. The only way to get Putin to back down is to make it too costly for Russia to continue its invasion. Contrary to a lot of political rhetoric from the usual suspects, our support for Ukraine has always amounted to a tiny fraction of our annual budget, and it has paid big geopolitical dividends in weakening a common foe/threat (without costing a single American life).

Additionally, I would ratchet up sanctions on Russia, and stop driving our allies away with this stupid trade-war nonsense. We’re at a point in history when free countries should be standing together against warmongering dictators like Vladimir Putin. Instead, we’re needlessly repelling key allies like India into China’s (and even Russia’s) arms.

How excited are you that Taylor Swift is engaged? 😂 — Ben G.

Completely and totally indifferent, Ben. Though I will say that my wife and daughter were impressed that I learned about it before they did.

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Thanks everyone! You can send me questions for next week by leaving a comment in the comment section.