Month: December 2025

The Usual Xmas Excess

Buck Banks


Despite the Affordability Crisis, American households will be going all out this year, spending almost $2 billion on real Christmas trees in 2024, according to an analysis by finder.com.
Here are the stats:

  • Spending on real Christmas trees will hit $1.94 billion in 2025.
  • In 2024, American households spent $1.87 billion on real trees.
  • An estimated 23.2 million real trees will be purchased at a projected median cost of $83.87.
  • The 2025 forecast of $83.87 is 5.75% higher than the average spend of $126.20 in 2025.
  • About 31.68 million fake trees will be bought at an average cost of $126.20.
  • 78% of American households will display a Christmas tree in 2025, according to the American Christmas Tree Association.
  • Americans spent about $5.57 billion on Christmas trees in 2023 and about $5.94 billion in 2024.
  • Christmas tree spending is projected to grow 6.56% in 2025 compared to 2024.

Donald Trump’s Really Especially Bad Day

Buck Banks

In his “To the Contrary” Substack Charlie Sykes summed up Friday, Dec. 12, the worst day of Donald Trump’s second term:

“The House rejected one of his executive orders; another grand jury refused to indict Letitia James; a judge freed Kilmar Abrego Garcia and called out the Administration’s bullshit; Kristi Noem faceplanted in congressional testimony; his concept of a health care plan crashed in the Senate; and his poll numbers continued to crater.”

“But all of this was merely prologue to Trump’s humiliation by the sort of Republicans we are thought were utterly extinct.”

“Despite a vicious pressure campaign, the Republican-dominated Indiana Senate overwhelmingly rejected Trump’s demand that they gerrymander the state’s congressional map to benefit the GOP.”

“What happened yesterday — an outburst of Republican courage — was as rare as a sighting of Bigfoot, Lindsey Graham’s spine, or natural breasts at Mar-a-Lago.”

Trump’s War on the Federal Reserve Could Be His Most Damaging Economic Policy

Buck Banks

“There are many items on President Trump’s agenda that are hurting the U.S. economy: the pointless trade wars, the socialization of the private sector, the mass deportations, and much more. … But in the long run, the most damaging policy of all might be one that’s gotten scant attention, at least from non-finance-nerds: Trump’s quest to crush the Federal Reserve. If Trump succeeds, he may doom the United States to high inflation for years, if not decades, to come.”

— Catherine Rampell

Donald Trump: World’s Biggest Security Threat

Buck Banks

“To update Samuel Johnson, these days national security is the last refuge of a scoundrel. According to Donald Trump, anything he doesn’t like is a threat to national security. Question his clearly illegal tariffs? You’re a dark and sinister force trying to undermine America. When the New York Times reported on signs that age may be taking a toll on Trump’s stamina, he denounced the reporting as ‘seditious, maybe even treasonous.’ … But some of America’s allies — and many of us here at home — are becoming increasingly open about saying that the real danger is coming from inside the White House: Trump himself has become the biggest security threat facing the U.S. and, indeed, all the world’s democracies.”

— Paul Krugman

NRA Sells Off Investments to Keep Lights On

Buck Banks

$40 million

“The National Rifle Association is burning through its investment portfolio to pay its bills as legal perils increase and revenue from membership dues decline,” NOTUS reports. “In 2024, the 154-year-old gun rights organization liquidated nearly $40 million worth of stock, fixed-income securities and other holdings. By the end of 2024, the NRA’s investment portfolio had shrunk to less than $33 million, down from more than $72 million the year before.”