Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Vincent Cook

“Being free to cast just one trifling vote among thousands or millions of votes for deciding how to run the breadline, how to assign living quarters, etc. is not some magical ‘power’ that gives you any meaningful control over your own life. Quite to the contrary, it’s the commissars and their enforcers (secret police, neighborhood watch committees, people’s tribunals, etc.) who would exercise a terrifying arbitrary power of life and death over all voters, rendering their voting rights irrelevant and any dignified life under their rule impossible.” (11/04/26)

https://mises.org/mises-wire/no-mayor-mamdani-voting-everything-doesnt-promote-dignity

Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen

“Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX), appearing with four progressives who won in swing seats in the midterms, called for Democrats to pass populist legislation ‘every week’ in the next term focusing on corporate corruption, lower costs, and higher wages. The Progressive Caucus, which expects to welcome at least 25 new members, and will begin the upcoming 120th Congress with more than 100, is putting down an early marker on how Democrats should conduct themselves, with what is likely to be one of the biggest House majorities since the early 1990s. ‘We have won immense amounts of political power, and now is the most important time to deliver to keep that power,’ said Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), a vice chair of the caucus and co-chair of the CPC’s political action committee, which spent millions of dollars in swing seats this year.” (11/04/26)

https://prospect.org/2026/11/04/progressive-caucus-wants-to-deliver-on-democratic-promises/

Source: The Next Move
by Garry Kasparov

“Trump says that he accepts the midterm results today. Perhaps this is a case like Hungary and Serbia, where the margins proved too big for Viktor Orban and Aleksandar Vucic to rig. We’ll see what the mercurial president says tomorrow. But who among Trump’s henchmen will stick their necks out for him now? Once seated, the new Congress must ensure there are consequences for the administration’s overreach and malfeasance—even in the unlikely event that Trump keeps up the conciliatory tone. Failure to do so will only invite another, more competent demagogue to attack American democracy.” (11/04/26)

https://www.thenextmove.org/p/a-mandate-if-you-can-keep-it

Source: The UnPopulist
by Shikha Dalmia

“Under authoritarian regimes, F.A. Hayek wrote, the worst get to the top because they are the only ones willing to engage in the kind of depravity that the Dear Leader demands. So this election season, Trump’s Own Party put its dregs on the ballot. By contrast, Democrats leaned into a strategy of liberal inclusion—meritocratic multiculturalism—and ferreted out political talent wherever it existed: Muslims, Hispanics, gays, even a Paralympian. What resulted was a contest between kakistocracy and meritocracy—and kakistocracy lost. Bigly. Even by the standards of authoritarians, Donald Trump is in a class apart—a rational strongman would have helped his party field candidates with the best shot at keeping its grip on Congress, or at least not losing as badly as it did.” (11/04/26)

https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/trumps-authoritarianism-gutted-gop