“Many Americans think Social Security works like a retirement account. In Cato polling conducted in August, about one in four said they believed they had a personal account within the system. That misconception didn’t arise by accident. Politicians routinely describe payroll taxes as ‘contributions,’ speak of a ‘trust fund’ as if it held real savings, and defend benefits as ‘earned.’ Social Security is not a savings program. It is a pay-as-you-go transfer system. Today’s workers’ payroll taxes fund today’s retirees’ benefits. There is no individual account accumulating a balance over time. Payroll taxes are taxes, neither deposits nor savings. Its early history makes that clear.” (01/28/26)
“United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chinese President Xi Jinping have called for a closer strategic partnership as they met in Beijing during the first trip of its kind by a British leader in eight years. … Starmer’s trip is also overshadowed by London’s strained relationship with the United States under the leadership of President Donald Trump. Their ties have been tested by Trump’s tariff war and his recent threats of annexing Greenland, much to the alarm of NATO members like the UK. Trump was angered by a similar visit this month to Beijing by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who also sought deeper economic ties with China.” (01/29/26)
“It’s not corporate greed that’s driving up the price of beef at the grocery store; it’s the fact that it’s now much more expensive for meat-packers to buy beef from farms. This isn’t due to cattle farmers colluding to raise prices. There are simply fewer cows. The American beef inventory shrank from 30.9 million in January 2021 to 27.9 million in January 2025, according to the most recent Agriculture Department data. From January 2021 to January 2026, cattle and calves on feed for the U.S. slaughter market, the main indicator of the six-month supply of beef, declined by 500,000 head. This decrease is attributable to a combination of weather, disease, and reduced imports.” (01/28/26)
“Deploying National Guard and other military troops [to occupy] U.S. cities cost taxpayers nearly $500 million in the second half of 2025, the Congressional Budget Office reported Wednesday. The cost breakdown includes the cost to activate, deploy and pay National Guard personnel; related operational, logistical and sustainment costs; and other direct and indirect costs of deploying National Guard and other military units, such as the U.S. Marine Corps, the CBO report shows. Since June, the CBO said the Trump administration deployed National Guard troops and active-duty Marines to [occupy] the nation’s capital, Los Angeles, Chicago, New Orleans, Memphis and Portland, Ore.” (01/28/26)
“There is no ‘right vs. left,’ no ‘conservative vs. liberal,’ no ‘Republican vs. Democrat.’ These labels are deliberate distractions — tools used by the true culprit to keep people confused, angry, and divided. The real conflict has always been simpler and more fundamental: the State against you and your liberty. Anyone who helps expand the State, either by giving it more wealth, providing an excuse to gain more power, or cheering its growth, is an enemy of individual liberty and human rights.” (01/28/26)
“FBI agents on Wednesday executed a search warrant at the Fulton County, Ga., elections office south of Atlanta. Agents executed ‘a court authorized law enforcement action’ at the county’s main office in Union City, according to an FBI statement obtained by NewsNation, The Hill’s cable partner. … Fulton County was a flash point between local prosecutors and President Trump following the 2020 election. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) indicted Trump on racketeering charges in 2023, alleging he and 18 others conspired to subvert former President Biden’s 2020 election win in Georgia and keep Trump in office. … In December, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a complaint against Fulton County over information related to the 2020 election. The DOJ requested ‘all used and void ballots, stubs of all ballots, signature envelopes, and corresponding envelope digital files from the 2020 General Election in Fulton County’ to investigate ‘compliance with federal law.'” (01/28/26)
“Christian nationalism is a political movement that seeks to blend its view of Christianity with government power. The objective is to impose their religious beliefs on the rest of us through laws and policies. They believe the United States is — or should be — a Christian nation governed by those who subscribe to their religious orthodoxy. In the end, what Christian nationalists want is control. The pursuit of power as a means of control stands in direct opposition to Christ’s teachings.” (01/28/26)
“Sarah Mullally was officially confirmed on Wednesday as the first woman to lead the Church of England as Archbishop of Canterbury in a traditional ceremony at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. The vast cathedral was converted into a court of law for the ancient Confirmation of Election, a legal ceremony set within a church service marking the moment an archbishop-elect legally assumes office. Mullally, who will also serve as the spiritual head of 85 million Christians across 165 countries in the global Anglican Communion, took an oath of allegiance as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury before senior bishops acting as Royal Commissioners under the authority of King Charles. The British monarch has served as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England since Henry VIII split from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century.” (01/28/26)
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“Congress passes a law. States where the law is unpopular refuse to enforce it. The federal government hires hundreds of armed federal agents, sets then to enforcing the law. Chaos follows, the law is widely violated with the approval of many, including a state governor and prominent media figures. The time is the early Twentieth Century. The law is the Volstead Act, setting up federal enforcement of prohibition. … It is not a perfect parallel to the present situation. Prohibition was the result of a constitutional amendment, was ended by the repeal of that amendment. The present conflict was started by the election of a president with majorities in both houses of Congress who was determined to enforce existing law more energetically than in the past.” (01/28/26)
