“When the state is so big and intrusive that people need its permission to do everything from building a house to merging businesses, it’s easy for the lines to blur between conversations in which government officials merely voice preferences and those in which they twist arms to get their way. That creates room for partisans to defend ‘jawboning’ — government bullying of private parties to do what officials won’t or can’t do themselves — as nothing more than casual chats. The best way to handle jawboning is to strip government of power so it has little coercive leverage, and we should always work to do just that. Another good approach, embodied in legislation cosponsored by Sens. Ted Cruz (R–Texas) and Ron Wyden (D–Ore.), is to make it easier to monitor government communications with private parties and to punish officials who cross the line.” (06/17/26)
“Shoppers stepped up their spending in May and surpassed expectations as temperatures warmed and gasoline prices cooled. Retail sales rose 0.9%, up from a revised 0.4% gain in April, according to new Commerce Department data released Wednesday. Sales got a boost from generous government tax refunds in both April and May, though economists say that cash cushion is starting to fade. Excluding sales at gas stations, retail sales in May rose 0.7%. Spending was broad-based. Business at clothing, accessory and furniture stores all posted increases. Online sales rose 1.5%. There were a few weak spots. Electronics and appliance stores and department stores both registered slight declines.” (06/17/26)
“Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) greeted the news that Elon Musk had become a trillionaire by — what else? — touting a plan to raise federal spending and taxes. Musk ‘pays the same amount into Social Security as someone making $184,500,’ Sanders tweeted. He said his bill would ‘end that absurdity,’ eliminate the program’s shortfall for 75 years and pay for an expansion of Social Security benefits. … Sanders’s idea is terrible. It would be a much larger and more harmful tax increase than its supporters let on and would further warp the federal government’s already perverse spending priorities. … The tax cap is there to keep benefits related to contributions. Musk won’t pay any more than someone making $184,500, but he also won’t get a bigger check than that person.” (06/17/26)
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey
“Not many people paid attention, but the 2026 Florida legislative session took an unusual turn with regard to AI regulation. The main issue isn’t whether AI should be regulated, but whether that should happen at the state or national level, or not at all. In Florida, lawmakers rejected Governor DeSantis’[s] ‘AI Bill of Rights.’ The Florida Senate supported DeSantis, but the House did not. When it comes to the Internet, how can a state control how its citizens use certain websites, especially when people can easily circumvent the rules? And I would posit that, even if one were in favor of regulating AI, we do not even know which regulation would be most prudent without inhibiting its positive impact on society. So far, it seems most regulatory proposals I have seen around the country, including in Florida, have been alarmist, reactionary, and driven by emotion rather than objective reasoning.” (06/17/26)
“Frustration with high costs has made younger generations more receptive to claims that wealth requires exploitation. But envy-driven attacks only limit our future opportunities.” (06/17/26)
“There is no Israeli military presence in Somaliland and no talks about Israel opening a base there, Somaliland’s Defence Minister Mohamed Yusuf Ali told Reuters on Wednesday. Speaking on the sidelines of a business conference in Tel Aviv, he said Israel was training Somaliland’s military and police, but dismissed reports that Israel was in negotiations to establish a military base in the territory as ‘rumours.’ Michael Lotem, Israel’s ambassador to Somaliland, declined to comment. … Israel recognised Somaliland as an independent state last December, the first country to formally do so, in a move Somalia rejected and termed a ‘deliberate attack’ on its sovereignty.” (06/17/26)
“Last week, Dr. Steven Quay published recommendations to improve the integrity of the nation’s biosecurity research following the Covid-19 crisis. Dr. Quay is a prominent figure in the resistance to the Covid-19 origins coverup in addition to his medical and academic pedigrees. His recommendations complement those of James Erdman, an Office of the Director of National Intelligence and CIA professional, who articulated before Congress in April that the government’s biosecurity apparatus is convoluted, clumsy, and unaccountable. I echoed similar comments in a prior piece from my perspective as a military officer also involved in countering the coverup. In the vein of Dr. Quay and Mr. Erdman’s recommendations, I offer further comments towards America’s Covid-19 post-mortem.” (06/17/26)
“Japan’s competition watchdog has raided some of the country’s biggest ice cream makers for allegedly forming a cartel to raise the price of their products. Some of the firms, including Meiji and Pocky maker Ezaki Glico, said this week that they have been subject to an “on-site inspection” by the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) over suspicions that they fixed the prices of frozen desserts. The JFTC said it is not releasing a statement regarding the investigation. The companies are suspected of inflating ice cream prices beyond increases in the cost of raw materials, even as the country faces a hot summer with record high temperatures.” (06/17/26)
