The Latest Videos
Victor C. Bolles
January 2, 2025
Once again, I am publishing my list of the urgent priorities confronting our nation, most of which have been unmet and consistently ignored by both Democratic and Republican politicians. But in 2025 we will have a new Trump administration that is vowing to change how things are done in Washington. One can only hope.
Quote for the Commentary:
“Achieving these goals (or at least making a good start toward achieving these goals since it will be many years before we reap the ultimate benefits) will not erase the stain of January 6th from Donald Trump’s legacy, but it would bury that infamous deed under a mountain of worthy achievements.”
Victor C. Bolles
December 9, 2024
Government budgets are the inflection point between governance and politics. And bad budgeting is bad governance. In this podcast, the Edifice of Trust host, Victor Bolles looks at some of the consequences of bad budgeting and how that is going to impact American citizens.
Quote from the commentary:
“If you think that tax cuts will spur economic growth to reduce the deficit, you are delusional. If you think that you will not have to make a sacrifice to help balance the US budget, you are delusional. If you think that geniuses like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy can save trillions of dollars by eliminating waste and fraud you are also delusional.”
Victor C. Bolles
November 29, 2024
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy intends to save taxpayers trillions of dollars by making the government more efficient. But efficient systems are not robust, they are fragile and can breakdown. In this podcast the Edifice of Trust host, Victor Bolles, looks at how the Founders’ efforts to preserve our Republic made the government inherently inefficient.
Quote from the commentary:
Efficiency is fragile. We learned that during Covid. International corporations had developed a highly efficient system of production and distribution that provided a large quantity of goods at low prices that still delivered great profits to those corporations. That was until Covid hit. And then the world fell apart.
Victor C. Bolles
November 22, 2024
It is difficult to understand why President-elect Trump wants to make recess appointments to his cabinet when Republicans control the Senate 53 to 47. But then we saw some of his picks. But he also selected Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to improve government efficiency. In this podcast the Edifice of Trust host, Victor Bolles, looks at some of the hints in what direction he will take his new administration.
Quote from the commentary:
The purpose of DOGE is to root out these unlawful expansions of power and to eliminate those rules and regulations and the bureaucrats needed to enforce them. DOGE, according to Elon and Vivek, will “pursue three major kinds of reform: regulatory rescissions, administrative reductions and cost savings.”
The Consequence of Ideological Purity
Victor C. Bolles
November 14, 2024
Kamala Harris and the Democrats took a beating in the 2024 elections, losing the White House and both houses of Congress. In this podcast the Edifice of Trust host, Victor Bolles, looks at not only why the Democrats lost so badly but also why Donald Trump and the Republicans may be making the same mistakes as the Democrats.
Quote from the commentary:
These actions are being done in order to embed the MAGA movement into the fabric of the American government. But this strategy runs the risk of overreach similar to the collapse of the Democrat’s attempt to embed far-left progressivism into the government.
Victor C. Bolles
November 7, 2024
Donald Trump scored a great victory in the 2024 elections and he has plans to make many changes in how America operates. But many of the changes he made in his first term as president were undone when Democrat Joe Biden replaced him. If Mr. Trump wants to make his changes permanent he needs to do things differently. In this podcast the Edifice of Trust host, Victor Bolles, looks at some of the things he needs to do to create a lasting legacy.
Quote from the commentary:
The scope of Mr. Trump’s electoral victory allows him to do something very different from his habitual instincts. Be magnanimous, or in his case MAGAnanimous. He has scored a great victory. He no longer needs to denigrate his former opponents. The election results are punishment enough.
Victor C. Bolles
November 1, 2024
The Founding Fathers were part of an elite group that got a classical education at America’s early universities like Harvard and Princeton and they applied that knowledge into creating the United States but they also used their knowledge to try and protect the fragile new republic from the tragic fates that befell other republics throughout history. In this podcast the Edifice of Trust host, Victor Bolles, looks at the perils that confronted the new republic and shows how we face similar perils in the 2024 election.
Quote from the commentary:
It was Montesquieu who wrote in his book, The Spirit of Laws in 1756 about the idea of a separation of powers to prevent the accumulation of political power. This inspiration motivated Madison to divide the government of the new American republic into three co-equal branches and incorporate checks and balances into the Constitution to prevent an accumulation of power, to prevent someone lacking sufficient civic virtue from putting ambition ahead of the public good.
Victor C. Bolles
October 24, 2024
Everybody has ideas on how to run the American economy but nobody seems to be very happy about the results. The Economist magazine across the Atlantic doesn’t think our economy is so bad. In fact, they think it is the envy of the world. Is our economy the envy of the world because our political leadership? In this the Edifice of Trust host, Victor Bolles, will look at why the rest of the world thinks our economy is so good.
Quote from the commentary:
Besides, the stock market thinks that the Fed is running the economy anyway. But the Fed’s actions seem to perversely affect how markets are supposed to work. Good economic news, like more jobs and lower unemployment, drives the market down on fears that the Fed will have to raise interest rates. Bad economic news, that means the Fed may have to cut rates, sends the market up.
The Inevitable Progression of Inequality
Victor C. Bolles
October 18, 2024
Income inequality seems to be getting worse every day in America, but whose fault is it? Greedy capitalists? Someone or something else? Or maybe inequality is inevitable? If we can’t identify the causes of inequality there is little we can do to prevent it. In this podcast the Edifice of Trust host, Victor Bolles, looks at some steps that we could take to slow the inevitable progression of inequality.
Quote from the podcast:
But income inequality has always been with us. Not only that, but as Walter Scheidel writes in his book, the Great Leveler, over thousands of years in all types of polities, income inequality and the wealth gap tend to increase over time. Elites throughout history have entrenched themselves and then enriched themselves.
Victor C. Bolles
January 9, 2024
Once again, while our so-called political leaders are completely absorbed by their campaigns for reelection, they ignore the urgent national priorities that need to be addressed, or worse, use those issues as political levers to galvanize their base at the expense of the American people. In this podcast the Edifice of Trust host, Victor Bolles, revisits those priorities that have become even more urgent as we enter a tumultuous election year.
Quote for the Commentary:
“Critics on the left will moan that meritocracy would worsen inequality. But equality of outcomes in education would mean driving all children down to the lowest common denominator (which you would understand unless you had been taught the new “equitable” math). But meritocracy will provide equality of opportunity. In fact, you cannot have equality of opportunity without meritocracy.”
Victor C. Bolles
December 30, 2021
In the year 2022 the United States will be challenged to address urgent priorities of national importance, but our political leaders will be distracted by political priorities as we approach the upcoming off-year elections. As citizens, we need to make sure that our elected representatives focus on issues of national importance and not on ideological agendas or the egos of political leaders. In this commentary, we identify some of these urgent national priorities as well as the distracting political priorities that we need to put behind us.
Quote from the Commentary:
“There are priorities that affect all Americans, rich and poor, black and white, young and old, whatever. We live in a complex and dangerous world. While our country is rich and powerful, it is not invulnerable. We cannot ignore the events happening around us and we need to be able to influence those events or be prepared to suffer the consequences.”
December 31, 2011
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On New year's Eve El Salvador's capital city turns into a virtual war zone of celebrations.
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