Below is my column in The Hill on how California, New York, Virginia, and other blue states are becoming textbook studies of the price of ignoring basic economics principles. Indeed, these states could become magnets for disaster tourism as economic students come to watch the market implode in real time.
Here is the column:
Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the “first partner” of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), is under fire for stating that she takes her children to conservative and Republican states so that they can see misogyny and racism firsthand.
Putting aside her hellscape phantasm, California may be a draw for a different group: curious economists in the mood for disaster tourism.
Just as people travel to Hawaii to see volcanic explosions in real time, they can visit California to see economic implosions. California is a laboratory for students to see what happens when you ignore basic economic principles outside of the classroom.
California is now the leader in the economic race to the bottom, as its politicians drain away what remains of decades of accumulated social capital, revenue and residents from their state.
Other blue states, including Washington and now also Virginia, are following suit, embracing disastrous policies such as soaring taxes, rent-controls and wage increases. The rise in minimum wages is a case in point. Democratic politicians from New York to California are pushing for a $30 minimum hourly wage for workers. Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and Democratic legislators in California herald their mandatory increases as providing a “living wage” for workers. In Los Angeles, a law requires hourly wages in the hotel and airport industries to rise by $2.50 each year until they reach $30 in 2028.
There is no question that workers are struggling with the high cost of living in California. But blindly raising taxes and minimum wages will exacerbate these problems, not eliminate them.
A recent report by researchers at the University of California-Santa Cruz found evidence of precisely what many economists had warned about in the state’s mandatory wage floors. Stephen Owen, an economics lecturer, explained that they found “a plethora of negative outcomes, such as higher menu prices for consumers, reductions in employee working hours, widespread elimination of overtime, and loss of benefits for employees.”
In other words, faced with mandated higher labor costs, businesses shrank their labor forces and raised their prices.
None of this is a surprise. Yet even amid such findings, Democrats are doubling down. They believe that because they claim to be the champions of the working class, it does not matter how many people they put out of work.
One line stood out in the report: “Further decreases in employee opportunities are being driven by automation, and the adoption of labor replacement technologies is accelerating.”
In my book, “Rage and the Republic,” I discussed not only the economic changes unfolding due to AI and robotics but also the expected political miscalculations that are most likely to fuel job losses and wasteful spending. Lo and behold, California is rapidly implementing those very policies.
We are facing one of the greatest job losses in our history. We have to act rationally and quickly to make the changes needed to prepare for this new economy. California is doing the opposite, accelerating those changes with self-destructive policies.
Newsom and his colleagues are actually providing additional incentives for struggling industries to adopt robotic and automated alternatives to human labor. The Hotel Association of Los Angeles recently commissioned a study that found hotels have eliminated or expect to eliminate 6 percent of positions in that city. That trend is expected to increase in the coming years.
The free market is responding to incentives. Companies are now developing and even selling kiosks for check-ins and robots designed to clean hotel rooms and serve in restaurants. Meanwhile, California is experiencing an exodus of wealthy taxpayers and businesses due to threats of wealth taxes and rising costs of everything from gas to construction.
Rather than work to reduce the cost of living and improve housing construction, California politicians are increasing taxes and mandating higher wages under the same tax-and-spend approach to economic development.
In New York, socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani is promising a $30-per-hour wage. Employers would have the choice of $25 an hour if they provide qualifying benefits. But they also have other choices: reduce their labor forces or leave the state. Many businesses in both California and New York seem to be making those choices instead.
In both states, costs are also rising for consumers, making the situation even more dire for displaced workers.
The fact that Democrats are doubling down on these policies highlights the real problem. The failure of these economic policies tends only to increase demands from the same politicians for more market regulation.
Figures like Mamdani will only insist that others are preventing citizens from enjoying “the warmth of collectivism.” He recently admitted that he will not be able to provide the free buses he promised, at least not this year. He blames New York state’s refusal to let him raise taxes further in New York City.
Economist Milton Friedman said, “One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.” The problem is that these policies are motivated by political rather than economic realities.
As workers lose hours and jobs thanks to mush-brained but well-intentioned policies, they find themselves even more dependent on government and the very politicians who caused the problems in the first place.
Beyond these politicians who find success in failure, the only group looking at a rosy future in California is the rising class of robotic workers.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
Doubling down on dumb is a democrat specialty. Seattle is facing a 35% commercial vacancy rate. The city’s proposed cure – a vacancy tax. Portland is in the same boat except you get the kicker of a homeless haven to boot.
Economics is overrun with untested theories that sound plausible. One economist might claim that A causes more of B, another economist might claim that A causes less of B, and both assertions sound equally plausible. This is no doubt because it is so dang hard to test an economic theory, at least in a form pure enough to come to any conclusions. However, I do think there are a few very basic rules of economics that can be relied on. One rule concerns how people acquire wealth in a free market: in order for an entrepreneur to make x dollars in wealth, they must provide some multiple of that in value. In a truly free market, undistorted by monopolies and patents and crony capitalism and such, the multiple appears to average around 20. In other words, an entrepreneur must provide $100 in value to acquire $5 in wealth.
If you accept this as one of the basic rules of free-market economics, then taxing wealth only makes sense if the taxing authority generates a comparable $100 in value for every $5 confiscated in taxes. Building infrastructure, such as roads, no doubt qualifies, as do many other government expenditures. But much of government spending surely does not qualify, providing little or no value. Providing value essentially translates into providing a higher standard of living. Wasteful government spending lowers our standard of living in a hidden manner, since we won’t experience the value entrepreneurs could have provided with the confiscated taxes.
The $30 minimum wage for restaurant staff exponentially raises the demand for vending machine technicians.
In-n-Out Burger pays starting wage of $21 an hour with full medical, dental, vision benefits, as well as 401k, and tuition assistance for college, paid vacation, paid sick leave, as well as company-paid basic life and AD&D insurance, pet insurance, and gym membership.
And they still make big profits.
Dick’s drive in in Seattle pays a starting wage of $20 an hour. They offer 100% company paid health and dental coverage, 401k, paid vacation and sick leave, $36,000 scholarship for college tuition, childcare assistance, and free unlimited public transit card.
Nothing on their menu is priced more than $5, and they still make good profits.
The idea that restaurants can only survive by paying minimum wage is absurd.
What is absurd is the idea that a few elected morons can dictate employment contracts. What is even more absurd is believing that democrats can lead a municipality into anything except blight, despite a 90% track record, and climbing (Seattle is going to hell faster than most major metro have in the past, enjoy the ride).
Hey, they can get a $5.00 Burger w/o condiments (extra) and a $4.75 lg drink and $2.75 fries at Dicks Drive In on the way! Me, I am going to Ruth Chris for a steak dinner with a fine wine and loaded baked potato.
Both places except you to earn that money too.
Show up on time.
work your tail off.
show up clean and ready.
Put the phone in a locker.
My guidance to my teenage children when they were looking for their first job was to remember that a job was an opportunity to make yourself indispensable to your employer.
No one is indispensable. What you mean is to work for a lower wage for the amount of work they do.
Race to the bottom.
Now do McDonalds, Burger King, Habit Burger, Taco Bell, Sonic, Hardee’s, Whataburger, El Pollo, Chick-fil-A, Rubios, Dairy Queen, Jack in the Box, KFC, Portillo’s, White Castle, Steak ‘n Shake, Shake Shack, Starbucks, Domino’s, Subway, Five Guys, Raising Cane’s, Wendy’s, and Del Taco.
In-N-Out workers are highly productive. If you don’t believe me, go to one and just watch the employees for an hour or so. No one is standing around. You don’t last long if you are lazy and looking for an easy ride. If you want your kids to develop a good worth ethic, encourage them to get a job there.
And, of course, the minimum wage is irrefutably unconstitutional, understanding that only the owner of private property, which is distinctly not public property, may “claim and exercise” dominion.
The judicial branch, with emphasis on the Supreme Court, fails America again.
What is the basis for saying that State and city minimum wage laws are in violation of the US Constitution?
5th Amendment
No person shall be…deprived of…property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“[Private property is] that dominion which one man claims and exercises over the external things of the world, in exclusion of every other individual.”
– James Madison
” without due process of law” is covered by having a law that sets the minimum wage, same as all forms of taxation.
Above: Private Property IS NOT Public Property.
Get it?
Laws that deny constitutional rights and freedoms are unconstitutional.
The singular American failure is the judicial branch, with emphasis on the Supreme Court.
Democrat leadership and the Left actually want more folks dependent on government because that means government gets larger and they get more voters.
Today’s subject had me wondering which states had the most surplus and debt. I turned to ‘truthinaccounting.org’ for data, they had data from 2024 and surprisingly debt to surplus was split evenly +/- 50% to each category. The following numbers are per taxpayer. In a categorical sense totaling all the debtor states they owe -$284,000 per taxpayer, and the surplus states have in excess of $265,000. The top ten debtor states taxpayer owes, – $238,300 whereas the top ten states have a surplus $207,400. When ranked Republican states occupied 20 of the top 25 states and had a combined surplus $243,700 per taxpayer and the Democrats occupied 14 of the bottom 25 states having a combined debt of -$226,400. The top 5 surplus states are: ND/AK/WY/UT/TN with a combined total per citizen of plus $164,000 with the highest ND of $63,300 per taxpayer, the bottom: CA/MA/IL/CT/NJ combined debt of -$174,500 with CN and NJ having the same debt per citizen of -$44,500, and since CA has been mentioned in today’s post each California taxpayer owned as of 2024 -$21,800.
As these numbers point out Republicans know how to prosper, and Democrats are reckless spendthrifts throwing money about as though debt matters not. Oh, such a lavish life you have, yea well as Ringley said, there’s one born every day.
“Truth in Accounting’s analysis of the most recent audited Financial Report of the U.S. Government found its overall financial condition worsened by $11.6 trillion in 2025. The mounting debt burden of $170.3 trillion represents the total benefits promised to citizens, yet the federal government has no clear idea where the money will come from to pay for them. This staggering debt translates to a $1.1 million liability for every federal taxpayer, resulting in the federal government receiving a failing grade for its fiscal health.”
This is under the Trump/Republican administration, with control of the US House of Representatives, the US Senate, the White House, and a majority on the Supreme Court. “worsened by $11.6 trillion in 2025” is the delta due to Trump and his DOGE buddies.
The Truthinaccounting report merely says that the Red states extract more money than the government needs.
If anyone would seriously consider touring any of these destinations to observe the disasters unfolding in real time, I strongly recommend budgeting to retain the services of an armed bodyguard licensed to operate in the visited state. The reason? Because those are the very same states that unconstitutionally infringe on the individual right to bear arms, and consequently, on the natural, Constitutionally guaranteed, right to defense against physical attack: an occurrence for which anyone on such a visit would be at significant risk. Or don’t bother. Frankly, I think that the kind of trivial fascination and/or gloating that this kind of self-indulgent tourism would seem to represent would be in very bad taste, no matter how much the locals deserve their fate, and I would find it difficult to get too worked up if anyone so engaged suffered unpleasant consequences.
For the uninitiated, California was once the greatest state in America and its crowning achievement; it produced Ronald Reagan—he of a prosperous economy and the demise of the Soviet Union.
After the United States fought four foreign wars to, one assumes, protect and preserve America, California was invaded, conquered, and “fundamentally transformed” into a disastrously overcrowded, indistinguishable, “melting cauldron” third-world s—hole country.
Just what the American Founders intended and established!
Not.
California still would sit at #5 in world economies were it a separate country.
Lech Wałęsa was the one who took down the Russian facade when he led a revolt by Polish workers against Russian control.
Reagan cut taxes without a similar cut to spending, sending the national debt out of control. It’s like putting nitrous oxide into a passenger car – it performs great for a short time and then blows up.
DJT, the smartest man to ever have lived. He is obviously playing 6D chess.
DJT on oil prices – “It could be the same or maybe a little bit higher, but it should be around the same,” Trump told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo in an interview on April 12.
This man is brilliant. Nobody can make a prediction like that. Nobody.
So says the multi-billionaire communist.
The brit oil cartel is telling you what to think…good useful idiot.
The only thing you know, Karl, is parasitism. The Constitution provides freedom, which requires self-reliance. Go get a job or open a free enterprise, perhaps an oil business. Check the financial pages; oil prices are all over the place, changing by the minute in what free people call the competitive free markets of the private sector.
You are a direct and mortal enemy of the American thesis, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, actual Americans, and America.
The voters who are responsible for those such as Newsome and Mandami are obviously the same ones who in high school voted for that student who, if elected president of Student Government, would improve school lunches and eliminate tardies.
Ah Princess Newsome, the French Laundry COVID illuminati, that says it all! Well the other Blue Communist Strongholds are working furiously to ensure the pacification of the local low IQ citizenry that empowered them to ensure they never regain control of the government that will enslave them. And once the “you can leave but your money will always be taxed” legislation is put in place that should stem the idea of fleeing the Soviet Paradise States.
In a way, this reminds me of the late 19th and early 29th century elites who would take safaris to remote primitive areas to gawk at the savages in their natural environments.
For your entertainment and it only took about four minutes to write,
Economic Disaster Tours! (LLC)
“Ladies and gentlemen, if I can use those terms, welcome to Economic Disaster Tours! Once again we are blessed with a beautiful day to see the stark contrast of the blight that has taken over this once great city. First and foremost your safety is paramount to us here at Economic Disaster Tours. Not to alarm you, but we occasionally come across a drugged out crazy who attempts to attack the bus or gain entrance to the bus, hence the need for the chain link fencing on the windows and door. And myself and our intrepid driver, Juan, are both trained and have access to tasers. Now, if you look to your left, you will see the Dolby Theater where the Academy Awards or Oscars are held. You will also see a small tent city, piles of trash, a few homeless people sleeping in the open air on dirty mattresses.”
“Are they here during the Oscars?”
“Oh! No! The city forces the homeless out, cleans up the trash and the streets until after the Oscars and all the beautiful people leave. Then the tent cities, trash, homeless return like they were never gone!”
“Is that a drugged out crazy?”
“Aaaahh, no. Just a drugged out one. You can tell by the aimless zombie like shuffle. Oh! She collapsed.”
“Will anyone come to help her?”
“Likely not. And now if you will turn your attention to the right that is Miss. Anderson’s bakery. And that is Miss Anderson, chasing a homeless person away after he pooped on the sidewalk in front of her shops door. We usually see her out cleaning poop off the sidewalk two or three times a day.”
“I read that the city has a special sanitation crew that cleans up the poop. They even have a poop app.”
“Oh, yes. A very well paying job.”
“Why are they not out here cleaning up Miss Anderson’s sidewalk.”
“For every hour they work, they get a 30 minute break. Union rules. Everyone, if you choose to walk around the city on your own after the tour, which we highly don’t recommend, do use the poop app to see where the sanitation crew has been!”
“Is it that bad?”
“For a summer in high school I worked on a local farm. The livestock were cleaner and smelled better. And now, Juan is going to park us at what was once a thriving, bustling outdoor mall. This mall was a premier place for shopping, dinning, bars, nightlife. The wait list for a lease was some five years long.”
“What happened?”
“Lawmakers raised the minimum wage, increased taxes on businesses. Those businesses had to pass on the costs to the consumer. The consumer was not willing to pay those kind of prices, foot traffic fell off a cliff, businesses were forced to close. Now, you have this.”
“What is that man doing?”
Oh, he is selling drugs. If you look around you will see the mall has become a open air drug den.”
“Isn’t that illegal?”
“Yes. But the city council passed a ordnance not allowing police to enforce those laws. Just like the shop lifting laws. We will pass by one of the few remaining legal drug stores where all the merchandise is behind plastic barriers. If a customer wants to buy something, an employee has a key to unlock the barrier for the customer. There is talk that store is going to close too but the city is going to sue the company to keep it there and open.”
“Can they do that?”
“They are going to try, just like they are writing a bill at the state level to force so many companies to keep their stores open in the state, even if they are losing money. Drug stores, grocery stores, insurance companies, that kind of thing.”
“Isn’t that illegal?”
“They don’t seem to care. OH!! You are so lucky! There goes naked Bob!”
“Ohhhh!!”
“Is he dangerous?”
“No, old Bob is harmless. Sometimes during one of his drug binges he likes to take all his clothing off and run through the streets. He will pass out some place eventually.”
“OH!! What is that?!?!?!”
“Ah, that IS a drugged out crazy.”
“He is chewing on the chain link fencing!”
“They do that sometimes.”
NotReallyaFarmer
Shouldn’t you be out in the fields preparing for spring planting???
I always thought spring time was the busiest time of year for farmers.
But you seem to spend all day here furiously posting comments that consist mostly of congratulating others on their “well said” comments. You obviously read every comment, and now you waste your time composing stupid little stories.
Perhaps you are not really a farmer at all.
Poor child.
Upstate makes a comment, and you freak out.
Upstate you didn’t mention if the poop brigade needed 🆔’s to get the pooper scuppers gig.
Fox producers are frantically looking for a restaurant chain that changed its logo or launched a “woke” ad campaign to provide a culture war distraction from Iran, Hungary, gas prices, food prices, the Pope, and Trump Jesus.
Let’s start a rumor from ‘unnamed sources’ that Burger King has decided to re-brand as Burger Queen.
That should buy them a couple of weeks.
Then when Burger King is forced to make a statement denying it, Fox can run the victory lap that Trump personally negotiated with the chain to defeat the commie woke agenda and put the King back in burgers.
Quick, someone start a rumor that Five Guys is changing their name to Four Guys and a Nonbinary Person.
Surely there’s an illegal immigrant caravan storming the border.
Surely there’s an illegal immigrant caravan storming the border.
Not until November.
Maybe they can find a trans 11-year-old that finished sixth in a running race in phys-ed and an aggrieved classmate who finished seventh and feels cheated
Is it too early for them to focus on the War on Christmas?
Grow up DF ANON
Those are the assault divisions of an invading army.
ATS – when did the left lose its sense of humor ?
I appreciate political humor – even humor that gores my sacred cows.
But if it is not funny – then it is not humor, it is just bad propoganda.
I have no idea what Fox producers are up to.
As to Iran – Trump has flipped the script on Iran.
US Warships are clearing the straits, and Iranian vesels are no longer allowed to pass through.
Separatedly Super tankers throughout the world have been rerouting and are headed to the Gulf – the Gulf o Mexico.
We have hear luny lefties claim that it is Russia and Iran benefiting from high oil prices – yet the tankers are headed to the US, Mexico Brazil, and Venezuela – Not Iran or Russia.
Trying to say Russia would benefit has always been loony. Russia has no ports that can handle supertankers.
Their primary distribution of oil and gas has been via pipelines.
The do have a “shadow fleet” of 50+ year old ships that are unsafe and their next stop is india for scrapping.
Regardless these are snactioned across the world, slow, low in capacity and expensive to operate, and Russia must send them half way arround the world to find someone to sell to.
The mess in the straights is doing Harm – Iran supplied 40% of Russian munitions – What Iran is still capable of producing they are keeping.
Oil Iranian or other wise commands a high price right now – but very little is coming from Iran or Russia – any benefit of higher oil prices is wiped out by many other factors.
Gulf states are telling Trump “Finish the job” – The Iranian people are telling Trump “Finish the job”
Who are the big losers ? China, Russia, Iran, Europe.
Wow Orban has been defeated in Hungary – do you think that really reflects a trend to the left in Europe ?
Nonsense – European countries are either seeing anti-left winggroups win elections, or they are seeing center left parties move right to prevent that. Europe as a whole is moving right – not left.
And that may be dangerous – the European right is NOT the same as the right in the US.
Le Penn is a Socialist and while she may have distanced herself from the Nazi – policy wise she is indistinguishable.
So the pope wants peace – can you name any pope in 500 years the did not ?
John Say, your view of reality is certainly lopsided.
The idea that Russia doesn’t benefit from high oil prices is economically illiterate. Oil is a global fungible commodity; when the global price goes up, every barrel Russia sells via pipeline or ship becomes more valuable. Furthermore, the claim that Russia has no ports for tankers is false. Novorossiysk and Primorsk are major deep-water ports that handle millions of barrels daily. While their ‘shadow fleet’ is a real phenomenon used to bypass sanctions, it isn’t ’50 years old’ and ready for scrap—it is a functional, albeit high-risk, logistics network that has successfully kept Russian oil flowing to China and India despite Western efforts.
And like Trumps idiotic ideas, you bring yours,
Rerouting tankers to the Gulf of Mexico doesn’t replace Middle Eastern supply; it reflects a shift in logistics due to regional instability. If the U.S. and allies are ‘clearing the straits’ but tankers are fleeing to the Americas, it suggests the ‘script-flipping’ hasn’t actually secured global energy transit. Furthermore, saying Iran isn’t benefiting from high prices while also noting they are ‘keeping’ their munitions suggests a pivot toward a war economy, which is a sign of escalation, not a ‘solved’ problem.
Remember you said Trump would open the strait in a few weeks. Nope. He’s still not in control, he never was. He’s making things worse. Trying to find an ‘off ramp’ from his mess is becoming a problem. The “negotiators” he sent to Pakistan were as adept as the three stooges. Trump is tanking the economy at a record pace. Inflation is up. Unemployment is up. Cost of living is up. And…..nations debt is skyrocketing because of his idiotic “gut” instinct” told him it was a good idea to invade Iran. Trump is a moron and everyone knows it except himself and his inner circle.
You should read Kiev Post. Both of those Russian oil ports have been made disfunctional by the Ukrainians.
Where the —- are the Great Persian People we’ve heard so much about?
The Gulf countries et al. should drop in a nucleus, provide arms, and commence the Great Persian Revolution!
When Gavin Newsom’s life in government is over, we will probably see him and his family sneaking into Idaho.
Would someone call Newsomes wife and politely tell her to stay home?
She’s not a wife. Just a “partner”.
Wait! That’s what the American Founders said on election day 1788! Stay home ladies and make some new Americans, oh, and dinner.
My, how things have changed…for the worse.
Thank you for reminding us about your new book “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution,”, another top NYT Bestseller for nonfiction..
I don*t know if you find an outlet that will commission you on a column about biased information which led to President Trump*s 1st impeachment, but the traffic of your blog would benefit:
Recently declassified and publicily available documents showing that Eric Ciamarella*s allegations about what DJT was alleged to have said and done. were based solely on second- and third-hand accounts.However, these classifies papers couldn*t be use for defence purpose.
As a bonus, there will be a follow up possibility in due course: House IC wrote late last month it will release two 2019 transcripts from closed-door hearings with former IC IG Michael Atkinson which had focused on the Ukraine whistle-blower.
The testimony was released today with a link in the press release at https://intelligence.house.gov/2026/04/13/chairman-crawford-releases-transcripts-from-2019-hearings-with-former-icig-michael-atkinson/
Sundance has his usual stellar analysis at https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/04/13/atkinson-transcripts-and-background-icig-cia-investigative-documents-released/?lctg=95728485
DNI Tulsi Gabbard Exposes Conspiracy Used By Congress To Impeach President Trump
https://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/press-releases/press-releases-2026/4154-pr-06-26
No mention of Trump’s optional war inflating worldwide oil prices? Not very fair & balanced!
Anonymous, no mention of high gas prices during the Biden administration when he cancelled pipeline construction to appease the environmentalists. But to you, death to America with an Iran that has a nuclear bomb is just fine.
How stupid and ignorant can you be think?
What state is Trump governor of?
Wars have bad consequences ALWAYS
All wars are optional – the US could have allowed Iran to get nukes.
Iran could have agreed to world demands and honored the non-proliferation treaty they are signatories of.
War is just politics by other means.
The Question is not whether this conflict will have negative impacts.
It is whether anything is accomplished that is of greater value than the harm.
We can debate that if you wish. Though many on the left misstate negative impacts – inarguably there are many.
I would argue that the benefits SO FAR outweigh the harms, but that putting the Ayatolahs on their heels for half a decade is inferior to taking them out.
I would note that the brief cease fire allowed US destroyers and frigates to go to Diego Garcia and rearm
and that having done so a small armada of warships is now in the gulf.
That is a BIG deal – US Destroyers are $2B each. Modern US destroyers pack enormous power, but losing one is a very big deal. The US would not put a destroyer into the Gulf it it beleived Iran had the ability to harm it.
One of the missions of US Destroyers is defending Fleets against Antiship weapons – as well as regional defense.
The presence of Two US destroyers in the Gulf provide the arab nations improved defense against the few remaining Iranian missiles. It also provides defense for Ships transiting the Gulf, and it shortens the targeting Time for Irainian missle launchers and allows using cheaper shorter range weapons. Finally, No Iranian ships are moving in the gulf unless those Destroyers allow it.
John. Trump got goaded into this war. Because Bibi knew how stupid he was.
Framing the cease fire as a means to re-arm is not a plan, it’s a realization that they messed up. It will cost more and more money for what?
Trump said no more stupid wars. Did he lie? Whatever happened to keeping his promises. He’s not improved the economy, he’s making it worse. He’s spending more money and increasing the national debt.
Iran will still be intact when Trump ends up either impeached if republicans lose both houses which is very likely now.
FYI destroyers don’t carry enough armament to counter Iran’s still substantial stockpile of missiles and drones.
U.S. destroyers ARE keeping their distance from the strait because they don’t know what iran has in store. That’s the problem.
We already had a good deal with Iran with the JCPOA. It was working, until Trump the moron crapped all over it because he couldn’t stand the idea that Obama did something he thought he could do better. Turns Obama’s plan was way better. Trump just made a mess and it’s getting messier by the day.
BTW, Iran never wanted nuclear weapons. They were never going to built one. Israel kept lying about that to justify attacking Iran. Now it is more likely Iran will seek nuclear weapons to protect itself from Israel and the U.S. North Korea, Pakistan, and India have them. Nobody would dare do attack them like they attacked Iran. It’s’ been shown to be an effective deterrent and now they will seek it to protect themselves form future invasions like this one.
“just like it stole the West Bank from the Palestinian people”
Why do they have purified uranium that is not useful for anything but to purify it for nuclear use? A few people are stupid enough to think uranium purified to that degree is what is necessary for a nuclear power plant. Are you part of that group
S. Meyer. They didn’t have purified uranium to weapons grade when they had an agreement with Obama. They were honoring that agreement and allowing the iaea to indiscriminately inspect their stockpiles. Then came along our moron in chief. Trump. He upended an agreement that was working because he couldn’t stand the idea of Obama having any success.
YOU have no idea what is required to have nuclear fuel grade uranium. Iran was doing what it said it would do. Make reactor fuel. Israel didn’t like that so it lied to Trump and being the idiot he is he believed it. Now he’s mired in a mess and costing us untold billions more.
“S. Meyer. They didn’t have purified uranium to weapons grade when they had an agreement with Obama.”
How do you know? You don’t and we know with near certainty that when you get into an argument with a known alias you always are wrong or lying.
S. Meyer, I know because i can read. It’s all out there for your perusal. You should try it. Google is your friend.
“S. Meyer, I know because i can read. It’s all out there for your perusal. You should try it. Google is your friend.”
You know because you can copy which doesn’t require critical thinking. Google does not appear to be your friend as you find something that appears to agree and you copy it withouth thought. Then you are proven wrong.
Now, answer the question, if you have the thinking skills that God provided to most human beings. If you can’t respond or if you deflect, I will take that as an admission that all you can do is copy and paste.
Professor, on one point I must disagree. Good intentions have nothing to do with what the progressive socialists have done in California. Their intent has always been to remain in power. Doubling down on policies that are destroying the state does not illustrate good intentions but rather reflects the bad intention to stay in power at any cost. Buying votes with other peoples money as has been forecasted has lead to a nonexistent train to nowhere leaving on track 29. But there’s no train! Yes there is and if you don’t stop saying there is no train we have ways to make you see it. Even if you leave the state we will still make you pay for (exit tax) your ticket. Good intentions??
Turley does not read comments as stated in his about page. Especially yours.
And you know this how?
@thinkitthrough
Very much agreed. It’s about power and only power, and they really do consider themselves superior; they do not have to endure the consequences of their actions to a large extent, such are they insulated by their wealth. It is a tale of aristocracy as old as time. They don’t really care what happens to the serfs, so long as the serfs remain compliant. Again, this is not hyperbole, and it is said as someone whose father was born in Los Angeles and who lived in CA themselves for 7 years.
The announcement of the blockade was quite confusing. At first, Trump described his thinking for the blockade as “If all ships cannot pass through, then none will”.
Hours later, like after howls from US allies, it was reframed as “We’ll only be blocking ships originating for, or destined for Iranian ports, or those who paid Iran a fee to pass through”.
As a communications shop, the White House is an undisciplined disaster. Is it asking too much that they know what message is being sent out to the world, can stick to it, and have it convey credibility?
Anonymous, you Trump saying that only ships coming or going to Iran ports will be blocked.
“We’ll only be blocking ships originating for, or destined for Iranian ports.”
The Strait of Hormuz is primarily bordered by Iran to the north and Oman (specifically its Musandam Peninsula enclave) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the south. It is a critical narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.
No one with a brain would think that he meant that he would block ships sailing from Oman and the UAE. By the way, the attacks on the UAE by Iran are not just limited to U.S. military installations but UAE civilian infrastructure has also been damaged. Where is your outrage!
if you like fast-talking lying POS like clinton and obama, you may have some issue with Trump. But everyone knows that your issue is not the comms, it is the threat to your access to corruption, waste, and fraud and the power that wields that bothers you, so eabd.
Long long ago Salena Zito covering Trump in 2015 noted.
Trump detractors take him literally but not seriously.
Trump supporters take him seriously but not literally
Only a moron beleived that Trump was blockading any Gulf nation except Iran
Nope. The real truth is Trump is a moron. He doesn’t know what he’s doing.
He’s pissing-off the left, that is baseline good enough. You are incapable of understanding the rest outside the scope of “gimmes.”
If we keep seeing the intra-national migration, and those in question continue to insist on recreating the messes the previously created and subsequently fled, this will not require ‘tourism’ anymore. Really – red and truly purple places had better be prepared, this is not the time for cockiness.
We already know the chicanery of the modern left and their intentions; their useful idiot voters can either catch up or wonder what happened when blue policies have destroyed their lives again, and they have run out of other places to flee to as if government simply ‘happens’ as if by magic.
Actually what Jennifer Siebel Newsom whispered into her children’s ear was,
“This is where all the former CA taxpayers went too.”
“Mommy! Why do they look so happy?”
“Here in this Red State, they pay much lower taxes, have a lower Cost of Living, improved quality of life, lower crime, better schools and they are not forced to use weird pronouns.”
“Can we move here?”