Top 5: Biden's CCP Nominee, Child Tax Credits, Interesting Polling, and MORE!
Also, checking in on my latest investment
Good morning from beautiful Orlando, Florida. Here’s this week’s top 5.
5.) Biden’s Would-Be Deputy Secretary of State is a Chinese Asset
Earlier this week, Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee took Biden nominee Wendy Sherman to task for her role in the 2015 deal that sent $1.7 billion to Iran. But as the National Pulse reported on Thursday, there’s another story related to Sherman that should seriously concern Senators — Sherman is effectively a Chinese asset:
Wendy Sherman – President Biden’s pick for Deputy Secretary of State – took a trip to China sponsored by the China-United States Exchange Foundation, a state-sponsored propaganda effort that seeks to “influence foreign governments and other actors to take actions or adopt positions supportive of Beijing’s preferred policies.”
…Sherman also signed onto a letter from the Asia Society—a pro-China lobby group which sponsors several Chinese Communist Party-funded Confucius Institutes across the United States—calling for collaboration with China on the development of a COVID-19 vaccine and insisting the U.S. can rely on China for “protective gear and medicines needed to fight the virus.”
She also delivered the 2017 keynote address for the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations (NCUSCR) where she praised Xi Jinping’s speech as “extraordinary” while calling for China to “assume a greater role” in the international order:
“Business leaders must join political leaders to explain to the American public how the United States benefits from global trade and an open investment environment and why we should not, must not, frankly cannot retreat from globalization,” Sherman said. “China has an increasingly critical role to play in this global project. It is in China’s interest now to assume a greater role as a responsible international stakeholder and leader as President Xi himself acknowledged during his extraordinary speech at Davos earlier this year. As a rising power, China needs to be part of the solution.”
As Deputy Secretary of State, Sherman would play a major part in determining U.S. policy toward China. And with a president-in-absentia-and-probably-dementia, Sherman’s role would obviously carry even more importance. Kudos to the National Pulse for some great reporting on this.
4.) The Lee/Rubio Child Tax Credit Plan
I’ve written in this newsletter about my enthusiasm for the Romney child allowance proposal. But ultimately, it might prove to be a bridge too far for Republicans. This is where the Lee/Rubio child tax credit expansion proposal comes into play. Republicans have voted to expand the child tax credit in the past, and they seem to be coming around on arguments about taxation fairness for families. Check out this short video from Sen. Lee a couple weeks ago:
The need for such a plan is obvious. The COVID-19 pandemic has only made our fertility problem worse, with Brookings estimating 300,000 fewer babies born in 2021. As I wrote last week for American Compass:
Financial pressures are one of the main, addressable sources of the [fertility] crisis. As American Compass’s recent Home Building Survey showed, half of parenting-age adults want more children than they currently have. And for all but the most well-off, these parents cite the inability to afford more children as the primary reason for this deficit.
Lee/Rubio’s plan isn’t pie-in-the-sky. It’s absolutely achievable. And as Democrats push their own pro-family economic agenda — much of which would actually be harmful for those in poverty or just above the poverty line — Republicans need to make sure they have their own pro-worker, pro-family economic agenda they can sell to the American people in 2022.
3.) More Censorship: Dr. Seuss and Trump’s CPAC Speech
I really don’t want to talk about censorship every week, but every week corporate America and Big Tech companies seem hellbent on sinking to new lows. This week, Dr. Seuss was officially cancelled by left-wing critical race theory zealots. Tucker has more on that:
But the cancellation would be laughable if not for the institutional power behind it. President Biden broke a presidential tradition by omitting Dr. Seuss’s name from his proclamation about Read Across America day — a day that was created to deliberately coincide with Seuss’s birthday. And Ebay banned auctions of the books from its website, citing its “offensive material” policy. (Amazingly, you can still find some of the books on Amazon — for now — if you’re willing to pay upwards of $1,000!)
Meanwhile, YouTube banned former President Trump’s 2021 CPAC speech (but not left-wing propaganda about the speech) from its platform and it was barely noticed. YouTube also suspended Right Side Broadcasting News — again, not a surprise, given YouTube’s deliberate effort to censor right-leaning journalism. In January, YouTube permanently banned Steve Bannon’s War Room, one of the most influential shows within the MAGAsphere.
Fascism isn’t coming — it’s already here. It’s in power. It’s in motion. The only question left is whether the American people have the willpower to stop it.
2.) Interesting Polling from Harvard
Harvard released an issue poll conducted last week, and there were several fascinating findings that seem to fly in the face of conventional wisdom. The poll was conducted online among 1,778 registered voters, weighted to reflect the national population. I’ve pulled some of the most interesting results:
Election Integrity
Do you think that there was significant fraud in the counting of the mail ballots or no significant fraud in the counting of such ballots?
Significant fraud - 43%
No significant fraud - 57%
Which is closer to your view?
The 2020 election was held in a fair way and there was no unfair interference against Donald Trump - 59%
The 2020 election was unfair because big tech companies, Hollywood, big corporations, and the media worked together to hold back information from voters and change the rules against Donald Trump - 42%
Interesting to note that 72 percent of Republicans indicated “significant fraud” and 42 percent of Independents. An identical 72 percent of Republicans and 42 percent of Independents felt the election was unfair due to institutional collusion.
The January 6th Riots
Which do you find more concerning -- the violence that occurred in American cities over the summer of 2020 or the incident at the US Capitol on January 6th?
Violence in American cities - 55%
Incident at the US Capitol on January 6th - 45%
Do you think that the events at the U.S. Capitol are being used by politicians to suppress legitimate political movements or do you think there is no such suppression of legitimate movements?
Being used by politicians to suppress legitimate political movements - 64%
There is no such suppression of legitimate movements - 36%
Do you think the Capitol riots are being used as an excuse to silence political voices on the right or is the reaction to them a legitimate response to the violence?
Being used as an excuse to silence voices on the right - 59%
Legitimate response to the violence - 41%
It would appear the American people see through the propaganda. This is encouraging. BUT HOLD ON A SECOND, FOLKS, I BURIED THE LEDE:
Big Tech Censorship
How concerned are you about the censorship of free speech on social media platforms today?
Very/Somewhat Concerned - 65%
Not At All/Somewhat Not Concerned - 35%
Do you think there is a growing cancel culture that is a threat to our freedom or not?
A threat - 64%
Not a threat - 36%
Do you think Amazon should be able to ban the selling of books and movies on its platform based on their political viewpoint or should they not be allowed to ban the selling of books based on their political perspective?
Amazon should be able to ban some books - 40%
Amazon should not be able to ban any books - 60%
Amazon recently pulled off its store a book challenging some of the assumptions of the transgender movement. Do you think Amazon should be taking such books out of its online store or should be allowing the book to be sold on its platform?
Amazon should take such books out - 39%
Amazon should allow such books - 61%
Do you believe internet and social media platforms should be policing the actions and statements of their users according to their own set of rules or do we need to have legislation in place that determines how, when, where and what these companies can do?
Should police the statements of their users according to their own set of rules - 43%
We need to have legislation in place that determines how, when, where and what these companies can police their platform - 57%
GOD BLESS AMERICA!
1.) The Power of FadeJon
Me two weeks ago: Buy Silver, guys!
Me now: 😬
Worst. Superpower. Ever. I singlehandedly caused a 10 percent decline in a relatively stable precious metal. But if the Avengers are ready for a reboot, call my people — I’m in.
TWEET OF THE WEEK:
Seems like pretty good investing advice. You guys go ahead and do it, I’ll stay out of it, and we’ll see how it goes. Have a great weekend!