Riverside: 7 days, sealed bids, what else is new?

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35 Druid Lane, $2.550 million and going for more. The owners paid $1.850 for it in ‘22 in another bidding war that had begun at $1.650), tidied it up and painted (although they appear to have retained for their rustic appeal the patched roof and crumbling driveway) and are ready to move on. 41.7% appreciation at the asking price, and sure to be more when the dust settles.

(Update: heard from an agent whose clients’ offer of $2.7+ “wasn’t even close” — sheesh. $2.850? Higher? Send in your guesses: winner gets to seal the drive, if not the deal.

2022

Tired of winning yet?

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And, a small step, perhaps, but still welcome, and one we can hope is a harbinger of more to follow:

Second anti-Israel Columbia protester, Leqaa Kordia, arrested by Homeland Security for immigration violations

A second Columbia University protester who took part in anti-Israel demonstrations on campus was nabbed by Homeland Security agents Thursday, sources said.

Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian who hails from the West Bank, was first arrested in April 2024 for taking part in one of the protests on Columbia’s campus while overstaying her twice-canceled student visa.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem emphasized that it’s “a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study in the United States of America” in a statement shared with The Post Friday.

“When you advocate for violence and terrorism, that privilege should be revoked,” said Noem.

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Kordia first entered the US in 2016 on a tourism visa and obtained a student visa the next year, sources said. But in 2021, the feds terminated her visa for lack of attendance. She then applied to have her revoked visa reinstated and was approved later that year.

But she again failed to attend classes, leading the feds to again terminate her visa in 2022.

Excerpts from three related stories — read them in full, if you’re feeling irrationally exuberant and want a bit of Debbie Downer’s company to bring you to your senses

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From our belwether state, from whence comes all bad trends, this:

California Democrats Expanded Medicaid to Illegal Immigrants and It's Not Going Well

John Sexton, Hot Air:

Just over a year ago, California became the first state in the US to offer Medicaid benefits to illegal immigrants. This was actually the final step in a process that Democrats have rolled out over the past decade.

In 2015, undocumented children were able to join Medi-Cal under a bill signed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown. In 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law an expansion of full-scope Medi-Cal access for young adults ages 19 through 25, regardless of citizenship or immigration status. Access was then further expanded to allow older adults aged 50 and older to receive full benefits, also regardless of immigration status.

The final expansion going into effect Jan. 1 will make approximately 700,000 undocumented residents between ages 26 and 49 eligible for full coverage, according to California State Sen. María Elena Durazo.

"This historic investment speaks to California's commitment to health care as a human right," Durazo said in a statement in May.

As mentioned, the final step began in January 2024 so we've had just over a year to look at the results. You'll be shocked to learn that this program is turning out to be billions of dollars more expensive than predicted.

…. [T]he $9.5-billion price tag of California’s program is already more than $3 billion above the budget estimate from last summer and is expected to grow even higher. In Sacramento, the governor and Democrats in the state Legislature now are under pressure to reduce coverage to bring down costs during a budget crunch...

The cost estimate to provide coverage to all-income eligible undocumented immigrants was $6.4 billion in the 2024-25 state budget approved last summer, which marked an increase from earlier projections.

In February, the Newsom administration told lawmakers at a budget hearing at the state Capitol that the cost of expanding coverage to all immigrants for the current year had ballooned again from $6.4 billion to $9.5 billion. The California Department of Finance attributed the increase to “higher-than-anticipated enrollment, and higher pharmacy costs.”

So the best estimate last summer turned out to be short $3 billion. Now the Department of Finance is asking for a $3.4 billion loan from the general fund to cover the shortfall. That will cover Medical's shortfall through the end of the month.

California will need to borrow $3.44 billion to close a budget gap in the state’s Medicaid program, Newsom administration officials told lawmakers Wednesday in a letter obtained by POLITICO.

That’s the maximum amount California can borrow, and will only be enough to cover bills for Medi-Cal — the state’s Medicaid program — through the end of the month, Department of Finance spokesperson H.D. Palmer separately told POLITICO.

State Assembly Speaker Rober Rivas has already vowed not to cut benefits for non-citizens.

Next: a blast from the past that lives today:

Biden ran up insane bills before he left the White House — here’s how Trump plans to pay them down

Team Trump is battling not only the Democrats and the stock market, but a huge and unproductive spending spree that Joe Biden unleashed in the final months of his presidency, On The Money has learned.

It was an attempt to goose the economy and the markets — so people could forget Kamala Harris was an empty suit on policy and get her elected last fall.

The good news: It didn’t work for Harris.  

The bad news: The bill is coming due.

During the campaign, whispers of Sleepy Joe’s Harris-related spending spree leaked out of the Trump campaign from time to time. But now that the Trumpers are in the White House, they’re starting to tally it up. 

The numbers are anywhere between $250 billion and $300 billion, depending on how you measure and classify the largesse. Robbert van Batenburg, of the influential Bear Traps market report, says his analysis backs up those estimates. Wall Street executives who delved into the matter say the Bidenistas were able to paper over the spending though the chicanery of rolling over short-term debt instead of issuing longer-dated bonds that would have caused a spike in interest rates, a stock market selloff and probably a recession.

However big the bill, everyone agrees that it’s a lot of money that the bloated federal government doesn’t have. You can’t roll over debt forever because investors get wise to the game and then keep demanding ever higher interest rates to lend the government money.

Team Trump tells On The Money the hole they’re in is large and will take a while to dig out from. They are still rolling over short-term debt because they don’t want to upset the interest rates environment. Meanwhile, they’re banking on the cuts by Elon Musk’s DOGE team to make sure interest rates don’t blow out to levels that could cause a deep recession because of all the debt and spending.

Good luck with that. In the meantime, InstaPundit’s reporting on what I — and the folks at InstaPundit — think is a very bad idea circulating around Washington:

Stepehen Green:

HMM: No Taxes If You Earn Less Than $150k. Donald Trump’s Plan Explained.

Lutnick said on Wednesday that Trump’s aim is to remove taxes for individuals earning less than $150,000 per year. He also outlined the president’s other tax strategies, which include abolishing tax on tips, overtime, and Social Security, and implementing significant reductions to individual and corporate taxes.

Lutnick said that the federal government would counteract massive U.S. tax cuts by implementing tariffs on foreign nations and curbing overseas tax evasion.

He noted that many commercial ships sail under the flags of other nations such as Liberia to avoid U.S. taxation. “All those ships are paying no tax, its a tax scam,” he said.

He added that many U.S. companies hold their intellectual property in Ireland because of its favorable tax regime.

“Ireland has a $60 billion surplus… because our companies drop their IP there. They pay Ireland the money — tax scam,” he said. “How about we end the tax scams.”

“The numbers don’t look like they add up but, even if they do, everybody should have at least a little skin in the game.”

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Yes, everyone should pay taxes and the amount they pay should go up with federal spending.

From the comments:

Rush Limbaugh once said if you want a revolution in this country, eliminate tax withholdings from everyone’s paychecks, so that everyone gets their full salary. Now make them write a check to the government each month (like your rent or mortgage, or a credit card bill) for their taxes.

Everyone loves spending other people’s money, even on other people, just as long as they won’t be responsible for the bills. But it doesn’t work that way, and eventually, the bills cone due.

So, they're the state version of the US DOE, eh?

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Two-thirds of the product churned out by the nations’ education factories is illiterate and innumerate. If those were quality control numbers from, say, a shoe factory, a complete overhaul of the process would be conducted, or the factories would be closed; in no way would the managers and top administrators be retained and given huge pay raises instead.

World ends, for some; wine snobs, Irish hardest hit

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Drunk on Power: Arrogant EU Taxes Whiskey, Trump Threatens Higher Tariffs

A toast to the international comeback of America! Furious that the many decades of Europe tariffing U.S. goods without reciprocal tariffs are over, the European Union has imposed a new tariff on American whiskey, triggering a threat from Trump against imported European alcohol.

The mainstream media does not want Americans to know that Germany, Japan, and other nations after World War II were allowed to tariff American goods without having tariffs imposed on their own goods, a long outdated and grossly unfair system that Trump is determined to change. And if Trump follows through on his new threat, the EU’s multibillion-euro American alcohol market could be in jeopardy.

Trump responded furiously to the arrogance-drunk EU’s whiskey tariff on his Truth Social platform. “The European Union, one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World, which was formed for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States, has just put a nasty 50% Tariff on Whisky. If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES,” Trump warned.

“This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S.,” he added. The United States reportedly accounts for a whopping €13.1 billion beverage import industry from Europe, with a significant amount of that being alcohol. America also, incidentally, largely funds Europe’s military and defense. The EU, therefore, has a lot to lose by infuriating Trump and launching a trade war with America.

I previously reported on Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick explaining how the post-World War II-era Marshall Plan and similar projects continued in place long after they were justifiable, creating a system that is now rigged against American manufacturing and in favor of our competitors in both Europe and Asia:

Whatever's happening to this country, it's ominous; when the right begins responding in kind, we're in for interesting times.

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“I am overwhelmed by — and grateful for — everyone who has written me to share their stories and express their support,”

Cities are burned down without consequence; universities invaded and damaged to the tune of millions of dollars yet the perpetrators are forgiven and released by prosecutors and judges; Tesla cars, charging stations and dealerships are vandalized, shot up and burned, and the murder of a corporate executives is considered “acceptable” by a huge number of Americans.

Two news items relating the latter caught my eye recently:

Luigi Mangione gets largest donation yet from mystery giver: ‘Quite exceptional’

A mystery donor has given the biggest donation so far to Luigi Mangione’s defense fund, inspired by the “quite exceptional” support for the man suspected of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

The “anonymous giver” gave a staggering $36,500 earlier this week — topping the previous record of $30,000 as the total exploded to over $722,000.

The nameless benefactor said he or she was inspired by the huge swelling of support from a wide cross-section of people for the 26-year-old UPenn graduate charged with the shocking murder outside a Manhattan hotel in December.

41% of young voters say UnitedHealthcare CEO killing "acceptable": Poll

New logo, same Democrat party

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Mahmoud Khalil is the head of (and founder?) of the “protest group” Columbia University Apartheid Divestiture. I posted yesterday about who this man and CUAD are, and their call for the “total eradication of Western Civilization”.

Even the NYT recognized CUAD for what it was, before it and the rest of mainstream media developed amnesia after Trump moved against him.

This is from the NY Times in October:

The pro-Palestinian group that sparked the student encampment movement at Columbia University in response to the Israel-Hamas war is becoming more hard-line in its rhetoric, openly supporting militant groups fighting Israel and rescinding an apology it made after one of its members said the school was lucky he wasn’t out killing Zionists.

“We support liberation by any means necessary, including armed resistance,” the group, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, said in its statement revoking the apology.

The group marked the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by distributing a newspaper with a headline that used Hamas’s name for it: “One Year Since Al-Aqsa Flood, Revolution Until Victory,” it read, over a picture of Hamas fighters breaching the security fence to Israel. And the group posted an essay calling the attack a “moral, military and political victory” and quoting Ismail Haniyeh, the assassinated former political leader of Hamas.

AND THIS IS WHO THE DEMOCRATS ARE — WE REPORT, YOU DECIDE