David Ditch

The federal government cracked $38 trillion in gross debt yesterday. We're well on the road to $40 trillion - and some in Congress want us to get there faster. My rundown of bad policies on the horizon: epicforamerica.org/federal-budget…

Net gain/loss of income ($B) based on 2022-2023 state migration data (IRS). Blue states continue to narrow their tax bases, and red states continue to benefit from those moving.

Spend less, tax less, regulate less, people and jobs follow. Now we need to apply that approach at the federal level.

NY is Cooked Megathread: the exodus continues. (16/♾️) x.com/_jacksalmon_/s…

NY is Cooked Megathread: Whatever this is. (15/♾️) x.com/policyengineer…

New York State/City being absolutely cooked deserves an ongoing MEGATHREAD because it is only going to get worse. Starting with this bonkers stat on NY's homeless industrial complex, which is apparently trying to compete with California's. (1/♾)

@MichaelWatsonDC @GreenPlusAnE That struck me as well. Google says: "The surge was driven by rising demand, a falling U.S. dollar, supply disruptions in Nigeria and Brazil, and significant market speculation."

@GreenPlusAnE WTF happened in 2008 pre-financial crisis?

Oil prices in historical perspective.

As currently implemented, the National Historic Preservation Act allows for a sort of quasi-extortion, whereby developers end up having to fund projects that have nothing to do with actual mitigation. A few examples: SpaceX: To obtain a launch license from the FAA, SpaceX was required to fund: - A comprehensive Historical Context Report on the Mexican War and Civil War activities in the geographic area; - The design, production, and installation of five multilingual interpretive signs describing the history and significance of historic properties in the area; and - Educational outreach to the public about the region's cultural heritage Susquehanna-Roseland Transmission Line: The developer was required to pay for the completion of four "interpretive products", including: - Podcasts; - Popular publications; and - Scenic byway signs Donlin Gold: The Donlin Gold mining project was required to participate in "creative mitigation" that included: - Sponsoring a rural community teacher to attend the year-long Iditarod Trail in Every Classroom (iTREC) training program; - Funding an "interpretive kiosk" explaining the connection between the local community and the Iditarod trail; and - Cabin maintenance Kings Mountain Lithium: Albemarle was required to carry out “Community Outreach and Public Interpretation,” including: - Digitizing historic documents; and - Creating an ArcGIS Story Map about the affected historic properties All of this, despite the fact that the NHPA contains no authority for agencies to impose these costs on a private party as a condition of a federal license. NHPA Section 106, like NEPA, is purely procedural. The agency must "take into account" effects on historic properties, but it does not authorize the sorts of preservation agreements that have become commonplace. It's time for reform.

Here are the US colleges where the average Parent PLUS borrower takes out more than $20,000 in loans (the new limit as of this fall). It's not the role of government to guarantee access to these particular institutions at any price they choose to charge.

Saying that Big Oil pays conservatives to oppose California’s rail boondoggle is a hilarious conspiracy theory, yet it’s common to hear regarding things like rail and EVs. Sadly, almost nothing that’s subsidized has significant oppositional lobbying - thus our huge debt.

@MichaelWatsonDC W

yessssss hahaha yesssssss

Some have been skeptical of the Education Department's push to outsource its responsibilities to other federal agencies. But there are good reasons to think the Treasury Department will improve the administration of the student loan program. My latest @AEI

As an aside, it’s telling that public concern about TSA wait times focuses on the inconvenience it causes travelers. Concentrating a bunch of people outside the sterile area of an airport is a huge security problem. It shows how people don’t take airport security seriously.

@LeighWolf @MichaelWatsonDC The idea that any conservative needs to be paid to opposed that boondoggle is weapons grade cope.

The number of libs who don’t know the CA high speed rail was supposed to be completed in 2020 for $33 billion is staggering.

"Many moving parts" — except trains.

Today, @joinFAI and @ShopFloorNAM have a new joint report outlining the permitting barriers to manufacturing in America. We sent a survey out to NAMs 14,000 member companies. The result is a trove of new data and detail on the national permitting picture. 🧵 on findings:

@CatoEdwards I'm trying to be generous, but it really is a paperwork exercise.

@DavidADitch They are hardly even providing a "financial service." They do the paperwork to pay out the subsidies. It's a very costly "overhead" for a subsidy program.

The heavy subsidization of crop insurance companies is one of the biggest scams going today. They aren't working the land or producing food, they simply provide a financial service. Do they need *billions of dollars* in handouts?

It's a good time to remember that the Empire State Building was built in 390 days using machinery and technological processes from nearly a 100 years ago.

The impressive reporting on California wildlife crossings today shows the perils of allowing activists and parasitic NGOs to co-opt an otherwise successful management tool. Colorado’s White River National Forest has one of America’s largest elk herds & the State Hwy 9 wildlife crossing project has stopped 90% of elk and mule deer vehicle collisions. Same thing at Utah’s Hwy 89 underpasses for the iconic Paunsaugunt mule deer herd (one of the best herds to source a high quality buck in the world). Elk and mule deer undergo long seasonal migrations that make their corridors essential, but Colorado and Utah’s projects were completed and cost a small fraction of the California boondoggle ($2-14 m depending on the project). As Ken points out, we’ve been using these tools for well over 50 years to manage wildlife and save human lives.

It's one thing to go deep into debt for an unexpected temporary emergency. It's a huge problem to go deep into debt because predictable yearly spending on mandatory programs have grown to consume the federal budget.

✍️And @DavidADitch remains optimistic, writing:

One day I hope I can stop writing these, but until then the work continues. epicforamerica.org/federal-budget…