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Unleash Prosperity Hotline Issue #1428
01/12/2026
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1) The Elizabeth Warren/Trump Credit Card Price Controls

The first rule of economics is: wage and price controls NEVER, NEVER work. Just ask Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter.

The second rule of economics is that politicians never learn lesson number one.

So we cringed when we heard the White House announce over the weekend that “credit card companies must lower interest rates to 10%" by January 20. Trump says the industry “abuses the public” and he will not allow it to continue.

How is this abuse? Just do the math on overdue credit card payments:
* 4% interest cost to carry the paper
* 6% credit losses
* 5% collection and administration costs

As we’ve said multiple times before: credit cards are now completely democratized with a record high 80%+ of households now having instant access to credit. Interest rate caps will drive that number down and reduce poor households’ availability to credit, and when unexpected expenses arise, what will they do?
A data table with the title, "Table 2. Access to credit cards and households carrying credit card balances, by income and race and ethnicity, 2023."
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2) Oil and the Rule of Law

Trump met Friday with oil executives to urge them to invest in Venezuela oil production. The value of Venezuela's on-and off-shore petroleum treasure chest is estimated to exceed $1 trillion.

The oil bosses didn't leap at the chance. According to the Wall Street Journal, Exxon CEO Darren Woods told Trump: "Venezuela is currently uninvestable without significant changes to the country's commercial frameworks, legal system and hydrocarbon laws."

“We've had our assets seized there twice," Woods said. "You can imagine to re-enter a third time would require some pretty significant changes from what we've historically seen here."

ConocoPhillips CEO, Ryan Lance, was equally skeptical, saying his company is "the largest nonsovereign credit holder in Venezuela today" and estimates that Chavez and Maduro effectively expropriated $12 billion of the company's investment.
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This is a teachable moment for socialists abroad and in places like, oh, New York City: you can confiscate property from investors once and sometimes even twice, but after that, the investors and corporate CEOs won't be fooled again no matter how much you beg them to come back.
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3) Trump Derangement Syndrome Strikes Again: Liberals Now Against Low Gas Prices

Our laugh or cry item for the week:

The liberals in this press conference are grousing about a world "saturated with oil" (egads!) and that falling gas prices are "disruptive."

Yes, this was the same gang of fools that was blaming Trump for an affordability crisis. And it wasn't too long ago that these same Libs were lecturing us that we have to use green energy because the world is running out of oil.
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We have a solution to make everyone happy: two sets of gas pumps at service stations. The first is for normal people who want $2.50 a gallon and the second for the lefties who prefer to pay the good old Biden-era $4 a gallon prices.
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4) Now This Is A Real Inflation Scandal

We see no evidence that the current crop of college students is the smartest ever, but they sure do get the most A grades.

This table shows how bad the grade inflation epidemic is at Yale, as compiled by economist Ray Fair:

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While historical data are limited, the best numbers available suggest that the percentage of kids receiving "A" grades has at least tripled.

That's especially true among kids in the touchy-feely subjects of philosophy, ethnic studies, gender studies and education.

Government time use survey data suggests students spend far less time on academics than earlier, so it is virtually certain that students are getting higher grades for far less learning.

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5) California Tells Billionaires: Be Gone

California's tax base took a massive hit in the last weeks of December, when a gang of mostly Silicon Valley billionaires hopped on their horses and got out of Dodge.

That billionaire boys club includes such luminaries as former PayPal CEO Peter Thiel, Larry Page, co-founder of Google, Oracle's Larry Ellison, and David Sacks.

Their moves are prompted by a ballot measure being circulated for next November's ballot by the SEIU. If passed, it would tax Californians with assets over $1 billion, including unrealized gains, at a 5% rate. Those with $20 billion in assets would face a (one-time, supposedly) tax of $1 billion. The rush to leave before the calendar turned to 2026 was because the new tax would retroactively apply to anyone who lived in California as of January 1 of this year.

David Sacks, a co-founder of Craft Ventures, announced his departure by posting an image of the Texas flag and writing this:
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A follow-up post read, "As a response to socialism, Miami will replace NYC as the finance capital and Austin will replace SF as the tech capital."

Vinod Khosla, who cofounded Sun Microsystems, says the measure will soon prompt even more departures:
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San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who is appalled at liberals who want to chase the wealthy out of the Golden State, wrote:
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6) Which Place Is Better for Business? California or Venezuela
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