DISCLAIMER: THE FOLLOWING "Cost of Freedom Recap" CONTAINS STRONG OPINIONS WHICH ARE NOT A REFLECTION OF THE OPINIONS OF FOX NEWS AND SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON AS INVESTMENT ADVICE WHEN MAKING PERSONAL INVESTMENT DECISIONS. IT IS FOX NEWS' POLICY THAT CONTRIBUTORS DISCLOSE POSITIONS THEY HOLD IN STOCKS THEY DISCUSS, THOUGH POSITIONS MAY CHANGE. READERS OF "Cost of Freedom Recap" MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN INVESTMENT DECISIONS.
New Focus on GOP's Timeline for Tax Reform as President Trump Approaches 100 Days in Office
Jonas Max Ferris: Markets are expecting tax cuts and that is weighing on some people's ability to buy a home or car in some areas of the country.
Gary B. Smith: I think if Trump managed to get along with Congress, he could really be a transformational president. There are no examples of where we lowered taxes and put the economy in the tank, just the opposite.
John Layfield: Republicans better get something done with tax cuts and tax reform or else. They've been talking about this for the last eight years. They need to have something and show up to work and get it done. We haven't had corporate or personal tax reform in thirty years.
Hadley Heath Manning: Both labor force participation and economic growth have been anemic and slow since the Great Recession but tax policy isn't the only thing that affects our labor markets. Both healthcare and immigration affect our labor markets as well. I'd rather have good policy as opposed to fast policy.
Chuck Rocha: The little guy has been left out in the cold when it comes to taxes. Corporations do well under any president and can afford to hire someone to find loopholes but the little guy doesn't have that and that's why you see them as Bernie or Trump supporters.
DHS Secretary Kelly Says Terror Threat from Southern Border Keeps Him 'Awake at Night'
Jonas Max Ferris: Yes and that security doesn't really cost much compared to things we think are securing our border like walls and Homeland Security budgets. The people voted for a wall essentially and the money should be spent on the wall. The government needs to figure out a way to pay for it. The real issue why we can't figure out where visitors go or overstay Visas – there is not enough money in the homeland security budget to do that? What about fake passports from a failed socialist utopia? We can't track passports created in Syria? Why don't passports have to have issue locations? Do they? Why did we let a country collapse anyway to prove how badly it was run? These are all problems a wall won't solve and really shouldn't be that expensive anyway.
Gary B. Smith: I wouldn't say at ANY cost, but the fact is we are on the verge of another terrorist attack of devastating proportions. In WWII we spared no effort to win the war: entire industries were conscripted to defeat our enemies. This time the war may be on our shores: let's figure out the most effective way to win and spend the resources necessary.
John Layfield: We need secure borders; the wall is so contentious that the nomenclature needs to be changed. Every president since Reagan has said they will secure the border; it's not about immigration -- it is about security.
Hadley Heath Manning: We can never say "no matter what the cost" -- of course we want policymakers to think through cost-benefit analyses when it comes to immigration policy and everything else. But border security is critical, and what Sec. Kelly said, that he's concerned about addressing this issue, should be encouraging to Americans. It should be encouraging to hear that this current Administration is going to enforce immigration laws that are on the books and try to restore the rule of law. And as Secretary Kelly said in his remarks, if Congress wants to do more or less or change the policy, that's their job, to change policies and pass new laws. It's Secretary Kelly's job, along with the brave men and women who work to secure our borders, to execute the laws as written.
Chuck Rocha: Immigration from Mexico is at an all-time low and you are still going to spend billions to build your 9-foot wall and Mexico is going to get rich building 10-foot ladders. Two things are going to happen if our government spends $70 billion on a wall that will not change our immigration situation. A) I will get rich running TV commercials in campaigns about your wall to nowhere B) Gary B's head will explode from the GOV fraud and waste in this wall.
New U.S. Census Report Finds Nearly a Third of Millennials Live With Their Parents
Jonas Max Ferris: I think it is just a sign of the times -- however it doesn't bode well for the country when so few are willing to go on their own.
Gary B. Smith: VERY. I firmly believe if a millennial had the opportunity to move out, they would, almost regardless of cost. Millennials -- at least my millennial -- are not living at home to "save money" or "take care of parents." They're living at home because they can't find a job. That's how bad this job market still remains: even if you have a Master's degree you're qualified to be a full-time barista and that's about it.
John Layfield: I think it is just a sign of the times -- however it doesn't bode well for the country when so few are willing to go on their own.
Hadley Heath Manning: My generation has been slower to marry and start families of our own. Far fewer are buying homes too. Millennials in China are twice as likely as American millennials to own homes. But certainly much of this has to do with the economy. Over $1 trillion in student debt! And the jobs market we entered 10 years ago was terrible. So for some, living with mom and dad is a financial need. For others, it could be that the ideal of home ownership or independent living simply isn't as important to my generation, who generally values experiences over material things.
Chuck Rocha: Holy smoke this hits close to home personally for me. See, my grown son is currently living in my basement and also working in my firm. OH IT GETS BETTER! And this week, he is joined in the basement by his twin 6 month old sons, who we call The Rocha boys. Yes, I think this will be their wrestling names in the future! I do think all these trends are very troubling. Our stock market and the economy is booming, but only really for the top 1 percent. All the real wealth growth in our country over the last 10 years has only gone to a handful of families, while the rest of America has struggled to make ends meet. Hence, that how you saw the rise of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. People and their kids are sick and tired.
Stock Picks
Gary B. Smith: Not all consumers are spending, but AXP customers are: stock up 20 percent by year end
John Layfield: BX, Blackstone-yields 6.4 percent, I think it is up 20 percent in a year and I do own it
Jonas Max Ferris: DNKN sugar jolts up 25 percent in 1 year
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