Armstrong Economics- $1 Trillion Flees California’s Billionaire Tax
The billionaire tax would require California residents worth over $1 billion to pay a one-time 5% fee on all assets, including unrealized gains.
Tax Trouble
If the US is going to eliminate income taxes or fund all the things that the administration is proposing, the revenue stream seems to be going in the wrong direction. What’s more is that reliance on tariffs for tax revenue offers a very obvious escape route: if you can produce something with inputs sourced solely in the US, you don’t pay tariffs at all. As that option broadens, tax revenue will logically go down, not up.
The release brings the total revenue collected in 2025 to $264.05 billion. It’s a historically high annual total — but also the second straight monthly decline after Trump dialed back key tariffs last November.
The peak for the year was October’s monthly haul of $31.35 billion. The first decline then came in November, with $30.76 billion in customs duties collected that month.
Elbows Up!
Trump on USMCA renegotiation "I don't really care about it, so it might go away. No real advantage to us. It's irrelevant to me. Canada would love it. Canada wants it. They need it."
"Because we don't need Canada product. That's the thing. You know, I want to be a nice person,… pic.twitter.com/aG68X7vJiz
— cbcwatcher (@cbcwatcher) January 13, 2026
The Canadian Dream
National Post- Report finds 7,000 Canadian restaurants closed last year amid rising costs, softening demand and declining alcohol sales
“Business closures do not occur when conditions deteriorate; they occur when resilience is depleted. Owners exhaust personal capital, restructure debt and postpone difficult decisions in the hope that conditions improve. For many restaurants, that hope carried them through 2023 and 2024. By 2026, the arithmetic becomes unavoidable,” the report says.
I, Napoleon
🚨 BREAKING: DEI Justice Ketanji Jackson is DEFENDING men in women's sports with an utter word salad at the Supreme Court
"Is treating someone transgender, but does not have, because of the medical interventions and the things that have been done, who does not have, uh, the… pic.twitter.com/QTkpru6EqO
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 13, 2026
“I’d do this for free.”
Help Wanted
Western Standard- Refugee backlog nearing four years as board seeks private contractors
According to Brassard, the backlog has ballooned fivefold since 2022, climbing from 54,000 to roughly 290,000 refugee claims.
Great Success!
Hard Times
You know things are getting tough when McDonald’s freezes the price of a small coffee and value meals. In a sagging economy, producers simply can’t jack up prices in the face of consumers without the means to afford them.
She announced Tuesday that McDonald’s Canada will freeze the price of a small cup of coffee at $1 for at least a year and drop the price of its McValue meals to $5 for the same duration.
“Canadians are facing challenges and are insecure financially. What we are doing is listening and giving them what they want,” she said.
Hardest Working Prime Minister Ever
When it blows, it sucks for ever other power generator
High wind output in Saskatchewan and Alberta, with zero dollar pricing in Wild Rose Country
Jeffrey Epstein Didn’t Kill Himself
You’d better put some ice on that: Bill and Hillary Clinton have declined to appear for scheduled depositions before the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.
One Last Sip
Scott Adams passed away this morning.
“I have a few things to say before I go. My body failed before my brain.”
Tuesday On Turtle Island
China Carney’s Canada: In the spirit of Herodotus. A Canadian in Florida. Blackie heads for Davos. Modern book burning.
The Democratic Party’s America: Blame Whitey for everything. The Portland Police Chief.
Stories You Won’t Find At Carney’s CBC: Under the rock. The silly season continues. Disease as a fascist device. Forty years of scaremongering. The Global Left.
January 13, 2026: Reader Tips
From 1943, here’s Frank Capra’s ‘The Battle Of Britain’. This was the 4th in a series of 7 propaganda films produced by the United States Army Signal Corps between 1942 and 1945 to explain to American troops the historical and ideological reasons for United States involvement in World War II.
Bonus: Prior to recent events, this was my entire world view about Minneapolis. So sad to see how completely it has fallen.
We always appreciate your best news tips!
Let My Monkeys Go!
Star- Monkeys are on the loose in St. Louis and AI is complicating efforts to capture them
People have reported capturing the monkeys, even posting fake pictures online to bolster the claim. But as of Monday, the monkeys remained at large, Springer said.
Honey, I Finished The Internet
When I Die…
…I’m going to donate my body to a good cause.
New York Post- People are getting BBLs and breast implants from donated cadavers: ‘It’s off-the-shelf-fat’
“This is great for somebody who doesn’t want to use their own fat or doesn’t have enough of their own fat in order to do a Brazilian butt lift or a buttock augmentation,”
Francisco- Whenever Jenifer Aniston needs a Brazilian Butt Lift I’ll be ready to go.
I Amuse Myself
Have we heard funeral arrangements for Renee Good? We can all go park our cars in the middle of the road and block the procession.
— Katewerk (@katewerk) January 13, 2026
Freezing In The Dark
Spiked- Berlin’s blackout was a grim taste of our Net Zero future
Berlin’s horrendous four-day blackout, which plunged over 45,000 households in the city’s south-west into darkness, is finally over. Beginning last Saturday and lasting for four nights, the blackouts left homes, shops and care facilities without light, heating and communications access – just as a particularly nasty cold spell sent temperatures plummeting to minus-10 degrees Celsius. The far-left ‘Volcano Group’ (Vulkangruppe) has claimed responsibility for the blackout, which it reportedly achieved by setting fire to electricity cables connected to Berlin’s largest gas power plant.