“DeSantis’[s] dissent-that-isn’t-really-dissent on Ukraine has brought out the hawkish ideological enforcers like almost nothing else in the last few years. Perhaps only the withdrawal of Afghanistan has generated as much outraged screeching from the usual suspects. David French bemoans DeSantis’[s] timidity and lack of Reagan-like leadership, [Max] Boot trots out the tired isolationist slur, and Bret Stephens declares DeSantis unfit to be president solely because of his Ukraine statement. The Wall Street Journal editorial board’s reaction was mild by comparison, but they still faulted DeSantis for a ‘puzzling surrender’ to the ‘Trumpian temptation of American retreat.’ These are not sane reactions to a rather vague, slippery statement that basically endorses the status quo. They are also not accurate assessments of DeSantis’[s] position.” (03/22/23)
“As long as the awful law exists, concerning which the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Monday, be careful what you say to, or write about, unauthorized immigrants. Congress, in one of the federal government’s increasingly frequent offenses against the First Amendment, makes it a crime if one ‘encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in’ this nation in violation of federal law. Let the formulation of hypotheticals begin in order to illustrate the law’s unconstitutional vagueness and overbreadth. Suppose a pediatrician says an unauthorized immigrant’s child needs medical care that is available here but not in the country from which the immigrant came. Has a crime been committed?” (03/22/23)
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Barry Brownstein
“In his instructive political fable, The Awakening of Jennifer Van Arsdale, George Leef writes, ‘Liberalism is the one philosophy that requires no enemies … It minimizes conflict and calls upon people to resolve whatever problems arise through peaceful means.’ By liberalism, Leef refers to the 17th-century movement that began to free individuals from entrenched interests, ‘from the constraints of the powerful institutions that dominated their lives — the interests of monarchs and church leaders and guilds.’ … Is the growth of collectivism and the decline of liberalism why Americans are angrier than ever?” (03/22/23)
“The House Intelligence Committee has launched a working group to address renewing one the country’s most controversial spy tools, a heavy lift made more challenging by growing GOP distrust of the intelligence community. The group, comprised of three members of each party, will weigh Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows for the warrantless surveillance of foreigners outside of the United States, even while they are communicating with U.S. citizens on domestic soil. The law is set to expire at the end of the year, and while its reauthorization is widely backed by Intelligence members, it faces hurdles before the broader legislature.” (03/22/23)
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Peter Jacobsen
“You might think that being a non-profit means the chief executive is paid less than the CEO of a for-profit company. This belief, though understandable, is wrong. The chief executive of a non-profit is paid a salary which counts as a business expense. As such, when revenues are higher than costs, the non-profit could always choose to increase the salary of the executive. Technically, the board of directors of the non-profit would be responsible for avoiding situations where executives receive exorbitant salaries which expand to fill every revenue surplus, but due to knowledge and incentive problems this may not always happen.” (03/22/23)
“The United States has issued a rare diplomatic rebuke to Israel, in a sign of the Biden administration’s growing frustration over moves by the country’s far-right government to entrench control over the occupied West Bank. Israel’s ambassador to Washington was asked to come to the State Department on Tuesday, where Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman protested changes to Israeli law that would allow new [illegal squats] in the northern West Bank. … it was the first time in more than a decade that Israel’s ambassador had been called to such a meeting by its closest ally, and it led news bulletins across the Jewish state Wednesday. Washington said earlier it was ‘extremely troubled’ at the latest move by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition — which prominently features [squatter] leaders — to inflame tensions with the Palestinians and draw condemnation from the international community.” (03/22/23)
“If you’re willing to face some unpleasant facts, here’s one of the most informative analyses of our worsening economic situation. Robert Stark explains what’s causing our economic death spiral.” (03/22/23)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen
“As you may have noticed, those dreaded ‘forces’ seem to have rematerialized—in the headlines, in the journals, in the pages of bestsellers: those historical, material, political, or ideological forces that supposedly make conflict between some set of groups, classes, or states ‘inevitable.’ But as the great libertarian historian Ralph Raico never tired of telling, such collectivist narratives are often little more than convenient scapegoats or outright inventions to cover for bad decisions made by powerfully situated individuals who could and should have done otherwise. To illustrate the point, take the most typical of those terrible and ‘inevitable’ conflicts so frequently invoked by the interventionists as the justification for their continued efforts toward US hegemony under the guise of world ‘leadership’: World War I.” (03/22/23)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“The mainstream press and the Internet are filled with commentators who are expressing deep regret and remorse for having supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. That’s a good sign. But we shouldn’t forget that the U.S. government was waging war against the Iraqi people for ten years prior to its deadly and destructive invasion and war of aggression in 2003. I’m referring to the U.S. government’s system of economic sanctions against the Iraqi people from the time of the Persian Gulf War in 1990-91 through the 2003 invasion. The purpose of those sanctions was to inflict massive death and economic impoverishment on the Iraqi people.” (03/22/23)
