Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by William L Anderson
“There is no doubt that socialists are doing very well in the current electoral climate. Zohran Mamdani’s recent victory in the New York City mayoral election has electrified the socialist movement across the country, which also includes the election of Katie Wilson as mayor of Seattle. … Indeed, Bernie Sanders lost narrowly in the 2016 and 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, and it certainly is not beyond the imagination to say American voters might well have sent him to the White House in either of those elections, had he won the nomination. … One might think, given the electoral successes of leftwing Democrats, that their policies have been successful in transforming the economic and social landscapes of the cities and states where they govern. Think again.” (05/14/26)
“However the Trump-Xi meeting ends, Trump is no Achilles going into this match. In fact, in the six decades of U.S.-China relations, perhaps no American president has entered the summit arena in a weaker position than Trump, the would-be strongman and artiste of the deal. Worse, his weakness — and by extension his country’s — is mostly self-inflicted. Trump had postponed what was intended as an early April meeting in hopes of striding triumphantly into Beijing as the conqueror of Iran, a China ally. Instead China is receiving him as a ‘giant with a limp,’ in the phrase of its Communist Party-controlled Global Times newspaper.” (05/14/26)
“Apple is on Google’s side when it comes the latter’s criticisms against the European Union’s proposals which would give third-party AI services the same level of access to Android that Gemini has. The European Commission has been taking steps to ensure that Google complies with the rules of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). In January, it told the company that it has to give external AI assistants the same access to Android its own technology has and to hand over ‘anonymized ranking, query, click and view data held by Google Search’ to rival search engines. … According to Reuters, Apple echoed Google’s statement that allowing competing AI services complete access to Android would undermine European users’ privacy. It would, for instance, allow them to interact with the apps people use to send emails, order food or share photos.” (05/14/26)
“Gasoline prices have skyrocketed. The Iran War is to blame, but the President has not been able to bring it to an end. Still, he has offered a small fix. A federal gas tax suspension! In its favor, this temporary measure would offer some relief. In addition, the federal government shouldn’t be attaching an excise to fuel sales anyway. The states already burden our fuel bills with their own taxes. … Cutting off a source of revenue would increase the deficit, of course. But there is a simple solution to that: spend less.” (05/14/26)
“The president has actually opened the door to rethinking ties with Beijing, but partisan politics are preventing some lawmakers from walking on through.” (05/14/26)
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by David Volodzko
“This year, the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, FIRE is proud to present the limited series ‘Figures of Speech,’ looking at the heroes and villains of free speech in American history. We begin with Joseph McCarthy, the senator who became our censor-in-chief and gave us a new term for political oppression: McCarthyism.” (05/14/26)
