I am a guest on the Hugh Hewitt show most Wednesdays. Hugh has taken to primarily asking me about economic matters. That is, after all, in my wheelhouse as a CPA. And in elected office, the only committees I served on were all economy or budget related. I have gotten a lot of feedback from these appearances that people find my musings on these matters useful. So, here goes my perspective on the major economic forces at the moment.

The Captivating Mrs. Campbell (my wife of 46 years) has been going through some of her old things. This was inspired by having to deal with cleaning out her recently passed mother’s house. Amongst the things that she found was a yellowed Xerox copy on legal sized paper of the speech that then California Governor Ronald Reagan gave at her high school graduation.

So, the One Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) passed. This is an epic accomplishment for Trump, Speaker Johnson and Majority Leader Thune, given the united opposition by every Democrat and the razor thin Republican majorities in each house. During my time in Congress, I saw us (Republicans) fail to pass many bills when we had bigger majorities. I have long pointed out that Democrats come together on policy much more easily than Republicans because they are collectivists by nature and ideology. That is why they identify everyone by group rather than as individuals and why they believe unions are necessary. Republicans, on the other hand, are individualists by nature believing in the power and dignity of the individual over any group. Therefore, many Republicans revel in their independence from the “herd”. Democrats are sheep and Republicans are cats.

Leadership is important. Be that in the military, a business, a family or a country, the right leadership can determine whether the entity being led experiences success or failure.

I don’t think I made up the term “Fortress America,” but I can’t remember where and if I heard it from someone else. In any case, it is an apt description of where I believe the Trump foreign policy is headed.

Next year, we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence which was the foundational document of the United States of America. Our place in the world has been far from static during those 2 1/2 centuries.

You have a seven figure IRA and stock market investment account and it is down double digits. Your house that was worth $3M just a few months ago is down to only $2.5M. Even your Bitcoin has dropped and suddenly your FartCoin is off 95% from what you paid. The company you work for says they may lay off white collar workers for the first time in a decade. You talked to your spouse, and the $10,000 deposit on that European cruise is non-refundable. The NGO client you have says that DOGE just cancelled their $10M consulting contract they had with the Federal government which netted the organization $9.5M. Therefore, they can’t afford your services anymore.

The Leftist Media is trying to manufacture a scandal out of the Signal Chat conversation released by the Neo-Marxist Atlantic Magazine. In their rabid attempt to smear anyone and everyone associated with the Trump administration, they have missed the main point we can learn from the text exchange itself. These are serious and intelligent people with differing viewpoints having important discussions about the future of American foreign policy without feeling shackled to any previous strategies.

Bravo.

Wait. What? Didn’t we just have an election? Don’t tell me that all those ads and incessant text messages are coming back?

Fear not. Unless you are in New Jersey, Virginia, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Louisiana or one of the special congressional election districts, you are safe from electioneering bombardments until 2026.

What we used to call the “mainstream media” is complete propaganda and indoctrination. It is worthless. But in the interests of brevity or a catchy headline, even non-woke media can fail to tell you, as Paul Harvey always said “the rest of the story.”

Here are a few items that were in the news in the last week, that you either heard only the partial truth, or perhaps didn’t hear at all: