“If you think tariffs are painful, try watching President Donald Trump’s aides and supporters attempt to defend them. Whenever they come up with a rationale for his policies, however dubious, he immediately says or does something to contradict it. They say Trump’s trade strategy is all about containing China — then he slaps tariffs on the allies we would need to do so. They explain that the law lets him impose tariffs on Canada to protect our national security, only for him to let slip that he’s mad about Canadian dairy policies. The truth is that Trump just likes tariffs and people who tell him they make sense. His trade adviser, Peter Navarro, thinks imports harm the economy because he doesn’t understand how gross domestic product data is calculated. The administration has no grand trade strategy. But the demand for sophistry in defense of Trump’s tariffs is apparently inexhaustible.” (03/12/25)
“What exactly have Elon Musk and DOGE been up to? A new court ruling could help provide some answers. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan granted a request for expedited discovery in a lawsuit brought by Democratic-led states challenging Musk’s and the Department of Government Efficiency’s authority. The plaintiff states are seeking ‘to identify DOGE personnel and the parameters of DOGE’s and Musk’s authority — a question central to Plaintiffs’ claims,’ Chutkan wrote in an opinion explaining her decision. If the judge’s name sounds familiar, she also presided over one of Donald Trump’s four criminal cases before he won the 2024 presidential election. In this current civil case, Chutkan emphasized in her ruling that the plaintiffs aren’t seeking information from Trump himself.” (03/13/25)
“Schools and local food banks will lose about $1.1 billion from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the purchase of food from local farms, ranchers and producers. The agency will be marking a return to ‘long-term, fiscally responsible initiatives,’ instead of ‘short-term plans with no plan for longevity,’ the agency said in a statement. Two programs bought food from local farms and ranchers. They are $660 million for the Local Food for Schools and Child Care Cooperative Agreement Program from local farmers, ranchers and fishers to schools; and about $470 million for the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, which helped fill food banks with products from small farmers within 400 miles.” (03/13/25)
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“There are two possible interpretations of Trump’s policy. The pessimistic one is that he plans to give Putin what he wants, force Zelensky to accept peace terms that give Russia substantial amounts of Ukrainian territory and leave Ukraine disarmed and defenseless against future Russian demands. On that theory the clash with Zelensky was a pre-planned drama intended to provide an excuse for the US withdrawing support, make it less obvious that Trump now supports Putin. As of Monday that looked like a plausible reading of the situation. The optimistic reading was that Trump wanted to force an end to the war on compromise terms, use the withdrawal of support to force Zelensky to agree. Tuesday’s news, Zelensky agreeing to a proposed cease fire and Trump responding by resuming US support for Ukraine, is evidence for that reading.” (03/13/25)
“The team that built the setting [for the movie Blade Runner imagined 2019 Los Angeles as heavily Japanese. Japanese food dominates the culture. The Japanese language is written on signs. Japanese corporations dominate the skyline. Even the Tyrell Corporation was originally imagined as a Japanese conglomerate in early drafts of the film. Why Japan? Simple: Japan was a rising economic influence and a supposed threat to American economic power in the 1980s. … Since about 2010, the same fears have arisen with China. … It’s the same claims of coming economic dominance by state-run conglomerates and the superiority of industrial policy. America must be afraid, must capitulate to these supposedly superior foreign powers, must adopt their systems, lest we be overrun. And just like with Japan, these fears are obsolete even as they are made.” (03/12/25)
Source: Rutherford Institute
by John & Nisha Whitehead
“ou can’t have it both ways. You can’t live in a constitutional republic if you allow the government to act like a police state. You can’t claim to value freedom if you allow the government to operate like a dictatorship. You can’t expect to have your rights respected if you allow the government to treat whomever it pleases with disrespect and an utter disregard for the rule of law. There’s always a boomerang effect. Whatever dangerous practices you allow the government to carry out now—whether it’s in the name of national security or protecting America’s borders or making America great again—rest assured, these same practices can and will be used against you when the government decides to set its sights on you. Arresting political activists engaged in lawful, nonviolent protest activities is merely the shot across the bow.” (03/12/25)
“Pope Francis marks 12 years as head of the Catholic Church on Thursday, seemingly out of danger after a month in hospital but with his health casting a shadow over his future. The 88-year-old was for a time critically ill as he battled pneumonia in both lungs at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, where he was admitted on February 14. The Argentine’s situation has markedly improved since then, with the Vatican confirming his condition as stable on Wednesday evening, and talk is now turning to when he might go home. But his hospitalisation, the longest and most fraught of his papacy, has raised serious doubts about his ability to lead the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Catholics.” (03/13/25)
