Mon Blogcast: Doomberg; CO Property tax "relief"; Mothers Day reflections

Just One Thing: Bruce Mehlman - "All Trust is Local"

I’m a big fan of political analyst Bruce Mehlman. He’s one of the few that’s brilliant and not on the left but his insights are generally non-partisan. He had a great note on Sunday showing what seems like significant cognitive dissonance among voters. So, most voters think their own state’s economy is good but not the national economy. They want most members of Congress thrown out but want their own guy or gal re-elected. They think their own employer is far more ethical than other employers. They’re satisfied with their own lives but not the direction of the nation. While any of these things can be true for someone, they really can’t be true on a national scale. The fact that so many perceive things this way raises other questions but politically it’s bad news for Joe Biden.

Six-Chart Sunday (#16) – All Trust is Local (substack.com)

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Mothers Day when your mother is gone (A truly touching article)

Mitch Albom: Being motherless on Mother's Day, another sad passage of getting older (msn.com)

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This is worth watching: Seinfeld at Duke

I'll be sharing some clips during today's show

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Today's Guests

Doomberg is a green chicken. They're also the top Substack in the finance category and offer unparalleled clear thinking on specific areas of study and expertise, notably surrounding energy. They've also made a few reason-based predictions that very much went against the common "wisdom", or at least the plans of governments, that have turned out to be correct.

We'll talk about a couple of recent notes:

Broken Record - Doomberg (about the West's ill-conceived approach to how to punish Russia for the Ukraine invasion)

(20) Cooking the Books - Doomberg (about the lunacy of burning wood for power on utility scales because of insane policies and deluded politicians.)

Related, but not from Doomberg: BlackRock's Fink underscores the realpolitik of the energy transition (axios.com)

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Kelly Caufield is Executive Director of the Common Sense Institute. We'll discuss whether the recent CO Senate Bill (SB24-233), now law, actually gives property tax relief to suffering CO homeowners.

Does SB24-233 Provide Taxpayer Relief and Predictability? | Common Sense Institute (commonsenseinstituteco.org)

Check Prop 50 and Prop 108 here...efforts to do real tax relief and prevent massive tax shocks in the future: 2023-2024 Initiative Filings, Agendas & Results (state.co.us)

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Other Stuff

Another great piece by Mitch Albom: Let's be clear over what these campus protests are really about - Detroit Free Press (newsmemory.com)

Related: I probably won't read any of this on the show but it's worth reading: The People Setting America on Fire - Tablet Magazine

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Excellent note: The Awfulness of War Can’t Be Avoided - The Atlantic

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I appreciate his admission of failure. And, maybe not right now, but in the not too distant future he needs to leave. As does everyone who was in the top leadership of the military and intelligence organizations that failed so spectacularly to defend Israel. And as does Benjamin Netanyahu. 'I carry with me every day the memory of the fallen; I am responsible': IDF chief of staff on Memorial Day | The Times of Israel

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Part of the reason that I'm so displeased with Donald Trump is that he supports tariffs, an economic policy so harmful TO AMERICANS that usually only Democrats are dumb enough to like them. Trump loves them and now Biden is trying to appeal to the same economically ignorant voters with this nonsense: Biden to Hike Tariffs on China EVs and Offer Solar Exclusions (msn.com) Again, I'm not saying that Biden is better than Trump on any economic policy; he's not. But Trump should be MUCH better than Trump and HE's not.

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What I like less than high fees is an unconstitutional government organization (the CFPB): Judge Blocks Biden Plan to Lower Credit Card Fees to $8 | Inc.com

Federal judge halts new U.S. rules limiting credit card late fees (msn.com)

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The main event in the Trump "hush money" trial begins today: The Latest | Cohen expected to take the stand as testimony in Trump hush money case enters 4th week - ABC News (go.com)

From Trump's 'attack dog' to star witness: Michael Cohen set to testify in hush money trial - ABC News (go.com)

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This is truly fascinating and, if you have kids, important. My wife and I both think that society is too quick to “pathologize” everything and put kids in therapy, and we think it makes kids weaker and more fragile, rather than stronger and grittier.

Are We Talking Too Much About Mental Health? (yahoo.com)

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THIS

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And THIS:

I'd like to encourage you to donate to Lily...even just $5 or $10. I donated yesterday. Not big money but she really is an incredible example of the American dream and she stands up for our Founding principles every day. Here's the link to donate: Donate to LIly today! (winred.com)

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I know this is a cherry-picked worst case but it’s still sickening. 

A Gen Xer who got $250,000 in student loans forgiven said he can now finally start saving for retirement — and consider his dream of studying in India (msn.com)

Households Earning $300k+ a Year Are Biggest Beneficiaries of New Student Debt 'Cancellation' Plan, Penn Wharton Study Finds - FEE

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And just the same way that "forgiving" student loan debt simply shifts the costs onto taxpayers, this boneheaded idea would shift the costs on to patients and purchasers of health insurance: Bernie Sanders and Ro Khanna reveal bill to ‘cancel all medical debt’ | US news | The Guardian

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This is fascinating: Putin removes Sergei Shoigu as Russia’s defence minister | Russia | The Guardian

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This is insane, and brutal: Prayagraj: An alleged dowry death and a gruesome revenge (bbc.com)

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There have been very very very few occasions to say this, but...Hillary is right: Hillary Clinton slammed by Democrat for remarks about anti-Israel protesters | Fox News

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How is this possible? Did others not know the building was being sold? Does it have massive problems not noted in the article? Seriously, this is nuts.

Fort Worth's tallest building sells for $12.3M at auction, bough for $137.5M in 2021 | Fox Business

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Today's Videos

Thanks to listener David for sending this fun video about music

The "five-second rule" for dropped food is mostly nonsense but I also think that for most people it offers almost zero risk and food is expensive these days, so...

The 5-Second Rule for Food: Fact or Fiction? (healthline.com)