The Rock of Talk

Eddy Aragon takes on China’s trade surplus, which topped $1 trillion in just ten months according to Reuters and CNBC, powered by a 35.2 percent jump in October exports and global demand for Chinese-made AI hardware. Chinese retail sales grew just 1.1 percent in September, and a property slump keeps consumers cautious. Eddy’s bold thesis on The Rock of Talk: the surplus isn’t Beijing’s strength but a confession of weakness, and President Trump should use next week’s APEC meeting with Xi Jinping in Shenzhen to trade tariff relief for American and allied AI hardware factories instead of headline farm purchases. He also carefully separates the Chinese people from their government and notes Beijing has tied farm buying to conditions.

Eddy Aragon takes on the House Democrats’ new Abuse of the Pardon Prevention Act, unveiled by Reps. Mike Levin and Jason Crow to target what they call a “pardon industrial complex.” According to CBS News, the bill would ban self-pardons, send the Justice Department’s inspector general after conflict-of-interest pardons and require recipients to disclose gifts to presidential projects, while three legal experts said key parts likely run into the Constitution. The bill follows President Trump’s remark, reported by ABC News, that he plans “tremendous numbers” of pardons. Eddy’s bold thesis on The Rock of Talk: kill the bill, because Congress can’t rewrite Article Two, but open the books, because conservatives should want every paid pardon lobbyist named in public. He notes President Biden’s preemptive pardons and clearly labels lobbying allegations as allegations.

Eddy Aragon celebrates California voters’ rejection of Proposition 40, a first-in-the-nation billionaire wealth tax that would have imposed a one-time 5 percent tax on the net worth of the state’s billionaires. According to Reuters and CalMatters, the measure lost about 53 to 47, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom was among its earliest opponents and Google co-founder Sergey Brin moved out of state and spent $102 million fighting it. Eddy’s bold thesis on The Rock of Talk: when even California says no to a wealth tax, the argument is over, and Washington Democrats should take the hint. He fairly presents supporters’ complaints about being outspent by about $378 million to $33.5 million, then argues that money simply cannot buy more than six million votes.

Eddy Aragon takes on the migrant caravan walking north through southern Mexico after last week’s Democratic midterm wins. According to Reuters, more than a thousand migrants, estimated at about 1,500 by a Chiapas state source, left Tapachula on Tuesday, and one deported Nicaraguan man said, “We believe the Democrats will help us.” AFP reports Mexico blocked a smaller caravan the same day, and analysts say no U.S. border policy has changed. Eddy’s bold thesis on The Rock of Talk: the most compassionate thing the incoming Democratic majority can do is say clearly, in English and Spanish, that the border is still closed, because mixed signals feed the smugglers. He treats the migrants themselves with dignity, credits Mexico for acting and warns conservatives not to use families as props.

Eddy Aragon salutes the heroes President Trump honored at Arlington National Cemetery, including a 103-year-old Battle of the Bulge gunner who helped liberate Dachau, a Vietnam medevac pilot who flew 1,874 combat missions, a Green Beret who returned to Afghanistan after a devastating blast and a survivor of the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing. Eddy credits White House figures showing a shrinking VA backlog, then takes a bold stand on The Rock of Talk: fix the VA first and build the President’s proposed 250-foot triumphal arch later. According to the Associated Press, three veterans have sued to stop the arch, a federal judge has temporarily blocked construction and some estimates put the cost as high as $100 million. Eddy’s plan puts veterans’ care, mental health providers and housing ahead of marble, and he asks listeners to thank a veteran by name tonight and every day of the year.