Recalling that people like JPMorgan C.E.O. Jamie Dimon had made a big stink about the debt just a few years back, when it was smaller than it is today, Sorkin—who is known for being chummy with many a chief executive—wrote in his Monday column, “The country—and businesses—will ultimately do better if the nation‘s balance sheet is not bloated with debt. Part of the issue is generating enough revenue from taxes, and part is dealing with costs like health care and entitlements, which the tax overhaul plan does not even begin to tackle. In the meantime, it would be nice to see more chief executives articulate the message that they were so vocal about years ago when they spoke about the importance of ensuring the long-term economic health of the country.” When A.R.S. is lecturing you, it could be a clue that you’ve f*cked up big time.

Trump decides electing a guy who allegedly preyed on teens is preferable to electing a Democrat who won’t vote for tax cuts

Earlier this week, when asked on Fox & Friends whether Republicans should vote for Roy Moore despite the allegations against him, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway replied, “I’m telling you that we want the votes in the Senate to get this tax bill through.” Now, her evaluation has turned out to be oddly prescient. Speaking to reporters outside the White House before taking off for Mar-a-Lago, Trump said that the people of Alabama should vote for a guy who was allegedly banned from a mall for bothering teen girls over Democratic candidate Doug Jones. “We don’t need a liberal person in there,” Trump said, noting that Moore has denied the charges against him. “If you look at what is really going on, and you look at all the things that have happened over the last 48 hours, he totally denies it,” Trump said, using a similar argument to the one he’s used to encourage us to believe Vladimir Putin when he says he didn’t interfere with the U.S. election. “He says it didn’t happen. You have to listen to him also.”

Investment loan held up thanks to incarcerated C.E.O.

To be fair, the prison is the Ritz Carlton in Riyadh, and the only reason Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has been there for the last two weeks is because his cousin, crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, rounded up dozens of people earlier this month in what is supposedly a corruption crackdown that may or may not have had to do with consolidating power. Nevertheless, the news doesn’t bode well for the government’s claim that Saudi Arabia’s economy won’t be affected by bin Salman’s directive. Per Reuters: