Lessons going into 2025

Ten lessons for 2024 and moving forward

1. The advent of Elon Musk and the death of Jimmy Carter showed an interesting divide as in the 1970’s, we were told we reached the era of limitations and needed to revamp our images, but Reagan view was that our best was still to come. Carter essentially viewed the common narrative that we needed to view our future bleak due to limitation of our resources. Elon Musk is not a conservative in my estimate but a moderate who believe that we are just entering a new era beginning going to where no man or woman has been before in space and Trump follows this whereas Harris, Biden and much of the left has adopted a de growth mentality in which the next generation must be satisfied with lower standard of living .

2. The legacy media bias has been exposed as we found out that they cover up Joe Biden senility and the bias against Trump. Legacy media showed it could no longer be trusted with the truth and the cover of Biden’s health was just one of many episodes of misinformation.

3. Trump won the popular vote, but it was close as Trump gathered nearly 50 percent to Harris 48 percent. Despite the fact that most voters felt the economy was bad , the world appeared on fire and there as a craziness to the Democrat party this race was still statistically close. Harris was a weak candidate who was part of the Biden administration and could not escape the policies of the administration

4. Trump made inroads into minorities as he nailed 46 percent of Hispanics votes including over half of males and nearly one out of every four Black males. 45% of voters members of union voted for Trump and won suburban voters overall. This coalition is not yet set in stone, and a successful Trump administration could cement much of this and his margin in key battleground states was close as it was in 2016 in which he won and in 2020 which he lost.

5. How stable is this coalition? One end you have Musk and other entrepreneur who may have different objectives versus the workers including minorities workers as well as small businesses. We see conflict in the debate over HB Visas as Musk is looking to attract the top .1 percent as he stated and many in the MAGA movement wants the program essentially eliminated. Populism is not necessarily pro capitalist as many MAGA view socialism as evil but not entirely trust in capitalism or view the system as favoring the uber rich at their expense. This was shown by Steve Bannon who admitted that he pushed for higher margin tax on the rich and has gone after Musk.

6. The key to Trump is to find the ability to find a middle ground. Immigration, close the border, deport illegals, and then reform Visa program to garner the top minds around the world while protecting American workers. In foreign policy, Ukraine will be an interesting test as Trump doesn’t want allow Putin to win the war but find peace. On tax issues, find the right plan that increases innovation while providing something for the middle class and on trade, the key is to expand trade while protecting American workers, managed trade is another way of putting it.

7. The long-term key to health of our economy is to attack the administration state and defanged its power.

8. End the Green new deal, frack baby frack, nuke baby nuke, and eliminate subsidies for inferior energy and cars. On the later point, Musk will go along since he is the leader in EV and he will win any battle on EV’s, he doesn’t need the subsidies but his rival do. His biggest competition will come from overseas.

9. Go to space for this is a battle of the future of humanity as by leaving our planet new world opens up new adventures and allows humanity to dream once again. Just as Christopher Columbus opens up the world to Europe, space will provide new opportunity .

10. In Congress ride the horse you are on and that begins with keeping Mike Johnson as speaker.

Other lessons,

1. Rebuild the inner city and start the process of building coalitions to get folks elected in blue cities and blue states.

2. Defining what America First looks at and how the rise of populism impacts Europe and it’s future with America. Is it time to revive or reduce EU influence over the hold of European country.

From Musk editorial and other observations.

From AfD co-chair Alice Weidel

“We don’t see that the European Union in its current state is an institution that is working well. What we need to have is free trade among the European countries, but we don’t need all the bureaucracy. … [W]e says, look, we don’t need a Commission that is actually destroying the foundation of our continent. What we need is free trade among the European countries …

[W]e think that the European treaties need to be reformed, so that every country within the European Union has the right, first of all, to have a veto against the Commission … And if a country wants to leave the European Union, why not fall automatically into a free trade zone?

What the AfD actually proposes, then, are EU-level reforms that will open to all member states the option of leaving the EU itself while remaining within the single market. Should these reforms be realized, the AfD would support leaving the EU while maintaining all of its prior EU-associated trade relationships. Now, you can agree with Weidel’s arguments or not, you can find her proposals realizable or reasonable or not, but what is very tiresome and also unsettling, is the outright refusal to address them at all, in favor of simply attacking strawman AfD policy proposals.”

Musk

“Economic renewal: The German economy, once the engine of Europe, is now mired in bureaucracy and stifling regulations. The AfD understands that economic freedom is not only desirable but also necessary. Their approach to restricting government overreach, lowering taxes and deregulating the marketplace reflects the principles that have made Tesla and SpaceX successful. If Germany wants to regain its industrial strength, it needs a party that not only talks about growth but also takes political action to create an environment in which companies can flourish without heavy government intervention… immigration and national identity: Germany has opened its borders to a very large number of migrants. While this was done with humanitarian intent, it has created significant cultural and social tensions. The AfD advocates a controlled immigration policy that priorities integration and the preservation of German culture and security. This is not about xenophobia, but about ensuring that Germany does not lose its identity in the pursuit of globalization. A nation must preserve its core values and cultural heritage to remain strong and united…Energy and independence: The energy policy pursued by the current coalition is not only economically costly, but also geopolitically naive. Germany’s decision to phase out nuclear energy and instead rely heavily on coal and imported gas, as well as volatile wind and solar power, without the battery storage necessary to maintain a stable power supply, has left the country vulnerable, especially to power outages. The AfD has a pragmatic approach to energy and is advocating a balanced approach. I hope they will consider the expansion of safe nuclear energy combined with battery storage to cushion major fluctuations in electricity consumption, because that is the obvious solution…Political realism: The traditional parties have failed in Germany. Their policies have led to economic stagnation, social unrest, and the erosion of national identity. The AfD, even if it is labelled as far-right, represents a political realism that resonates with many Germans who feel their concerns are ignored by the establishment. It addresses current issues without the political correctness that often obscures the truth. The description of the AfD as far-right is clearly wrong when you consider that Alice Weidel, the leader of the party, has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka! Does that sound like Hitler to you? Please!”