The Conservative Case For $4 Trillion October 4, 2021October 3, 2021 AFGHANISTAN Sons of Liberty founder Matthew VanDyke on Twitter: “I initially criticized #Biden for #Afghanistan, comparing it to Fall of Saigon. He proved me wrong. The past few weeks rescuing 123,000 in #Kabul was incredible and historic. The use of carrot-and-stick diplomacy on #Taliban was brilliant, the military achievements extraordinary.” Remember: the alternative was NOT keeping 2,500 Americans in Afghanistan. Had we done that — violating Trump’s agreement to leave — the Taliban would have resumed the war, so the alternative would have been to surge back tens of thousands of troops for another twenty or forty or eighty years. (“You’ve got the watches but we’ve got the time.”) Not an easy choice — we never should have gone in in the first place — but VanDyke is a lot closer to right, I think, than Biden’s critics. BUILD BACK BETTER Conservative David Brooks: This Is Why We Need To Spend $4 Trillion. Powerful. And here’s how to get a deal done: Have most of Build Back Better sunset after 5 or 6 or 7 years instead of 10, slashing the cost. As sunset loomed, voters would likely demand the wonderful things it provides be extended — along with the higher taxes that pay for those wonderful things. America was a good place for corporations and the uber-wealthy before the massive Reagan/Bush/Trump tax cuts. It will remain a good place even as the balance of good fortune shifts back somewhat toward the bottom 99%. MANDATES G.O.P. Seethes at Biden Mandate, Even in States Requiring Other Vaccines. Also . . . FOX’s Chris Wallace to Gov. Pete Ricketts: “To attend school in your state of Nebraska, children must be vaccinated against a number of diseases. They must be vaccinated against Diptheria, tetanus, and pertussis; polio; measles, mumps, and rubella; Hepatitis B; chickenpox. Why are those mandates that parents in your state must comply with and do comply with routinely—why is it that they’re not so objectionable and such a violation of personal freedom but Biden’s vaccine mandates are?” After the Republican governor responded that those other vaccines have a “long history” of use and that Americans “don’t know what to trust” with the COVID-19 vaccines, Wallace pointed out that the polio vaccine was quickly mandated after it first became available and Americans “viewed it as a blessing” at the time. Have a great week!