Kevin Bae

Non-Social in a Socially Networked World

  • Trump’s tariffs and the rest of the world

    Trump’s tariffs and the rest of the world

    I’m in Paris right now and decided to tune into some news channels in Paris. The coverage of the tariffs Trump announced yesterday is hilarious. The world is in panic and talking about economic collapse. What this should tell you, as an American, is the rest of the world not only is dependent on the…

  • Your incompetent federal overlords: IRS modernization project is 30 years behind and $15 Billion over budget

    Your incompetent federal overlords: IRS modernization project is 30 years behind and $15 Billion over budget

    Sam Corcos, an adviser to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), appeared on Fox News to discuss the IRS’s so-called modernization effort. This effort, to update the IRS’s ancient technology (it runs on 1960s mainframes programmed with COBOL and assembly language) is 30 years behind schedule and $15 billion over budget. Corcos points out that…

  • Media Throws Tantrum on Tesla’s Taxes

    Media Throws Tantrum on Tesla’s Taxes

    Tesla had about in $7.1 billion in net income last year and paid almost nothing in taxes… so they say. The outrage machine kicked into high gear and it’s easy to think Elon Musk is ripping off the nation and taxpayers. The story, honestly, is less about Tesla dodging taxes and more about how most…

  • Trump’s deportation attempt of Khalil may not be an overstep after all

    Trump’s deportation attempt of Khalil may not be an overstep after all

    On March 10, I wrote about how Trump’s attempt to deport Mahmoud Khalil might be overreach. Punishing someone for speech is not allowed in this country… on most occasions. I knew Khalil was a green card holder and assumed he had the same free speech rights as citizens. I didn’t know he agreed to and…

  • Trump may have just stepped over the totalitarian line

    Trump may have just stepped over the totalitarian line

    The First Amendment isn’t a suggestion. Why do so many people in power think it is? I read an article in The Wall Street Journal about ICE agents raiding an apartment near Columbia University, arresting Mahmoud Khalil, and starting the process of revoking his green card. His supposed crime is pro-Palestinian activism, anti-Semitism, and anti-Americanism.…

  • California’s Experiment with Tariffs on Wages Backfires

    California’s Experiment with Tariffs on Wages Backfires

    Talk of tariffs is all over the news, with President Trump slapping them on imports from Canada, Mexico, the EU, and China. Most Americans understand that tariffs can drive up prices. But what they don’t see is that a tariff isn’t just a tax on foreign goods, it’s any artificial cost imposed on a market,…