Republicans say they will pass a Tax Reform bill this week. They started off with a clear intention of simplifying the income tax system but by the time a bunch of picky Senators and Congressmen got through with it, the jobs of our professional tax preparers are secure. Most of the various deductions remain. More people will pay no income tax and most others will pay less than before. But it’s not simple.
Have you noticed the economy is improving? The GDP is growing and the stock market keeps setting records. Folks are in a generous holiday spirit. We haven’t forgotten the victims of hurricanes, shootings, fires, opioids, and other sad events. But for most, 2017 has been a good year.
Did any Democrat in the 2016 Presidential campaign lie to the FBI? (We know that General Flynn on the Republican side admitted lying.) Well, let’s go back to May-June 2016 when everyone was wondering when the FBI would interrogate Hillary Clinton about her email server during her four years as Secretary of State. When the day arrived (July 4th weekend) everyone expected Mrs. Clinton to enter the FBI headquarters and be questioned personally by Director James Comey and other top FBI investigators.
That’s not how it worked out. Instead Clinton invited the top FBI investigator, Peter Strzok, (not Comey) to her house for tea and crumpets and idle chitchat. Strzok didn’t ask any questions about the email server, or top secret classified information, or the 30,000 deleted emails. He never let Mrs. Clinton mention anything about her term as Secretary of State. So did she lie to the FBI? There was no recording of the meeting, and since no substantial topics were discussed the clear answer is: No.
It seems that Strzok was also the chief fund-raiser within the FBI for the Clinton campaign, assisted by his mistress Lisa Page. Andrew McCabe, his wife, and a few others are involved in this puzzle. I hope my over simplification of the mystery is wrong. The Mueller investigation of Russian interference in our elections will get even more interesting in 2018.
In the Alabama Senate election, morals won, barely. I think Republican Roy Moore could have won if he had borrowed the campaign promise Will Rogers used when he ran for President (as a joke) in 1928. “My only campaign pledge or slogan: IF ELECTED I ABSOLUTELY AND POSITIVELY AGREE TO RESIGN.”