Author: Thomas L. Knapp

Source: Orange County Register
by Veronique de Rugy

“Despite what progressives have been arguing lately, the United States does not have a tax problem. Federal revenues, even after last year’s extension of the Trump tax cuts, are running above their historical average as a share of GDP. What America has is a spending problem so large that the Congressional Budget Office’s latest 10-year outlook reads less like a fiscal forecast than a warning label.” (02/19/26)

https://www.ocregister.com/2026/02/19/the-cbos-latest-report-and-the-choice-between-reform-and-disorder/

Source: Wired
by Andy Greenberg & Lily Hay Newman

“From threat modeling to encrypted collaboration apps, we’ve collected experts’ tips and tools for safely and effectively building a group — even while being targeted and tracked by the powerful.” (02/19/26)

https://archive.is/KeHNs

Source: Popular Information
by Judd Legum

“Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the parent company of Truth Social, has an unrivaled free source of publicity. President Trump, who is also TMTG’s largest shareholder, posts extensively on the Truth Social platform, sometimes dozens of times in a single day. He is essentially leveraging the full weight of the presidency, the world’s most powerful office, to drive awareness of TMTG’s offerings. Yet, by all objective metrics, TMTG is failing. The stock price, which trades under the ticker symbol DJT, peaked at nearly $62 in March 2024, shortly after the company went public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). On February 17, DJT stock closed below $10 per share, an all-time low. (It rallied modestly on Wednesday, closing at $10.48.) What happened?” (02/19/26)

https://popular.info/p/how-trump-media-collapsed

Source: spiked
by Tom Bailey

“By 2020, China accounted for almost 30 per cent of global manufacturing output vs America’s 17 per cent. As useful as America’s immense power over the global financial system is, the relative decline of its industrial strength compared with its primary geopolitical competitor is a major source of weakness. … Trump brought this to the fore of American politics. His 2016 election campaign tapped into the social dysfunction wrought by the decline of manufacturing, while his attitude and rhetoric toward China was driven by a sense of loss of national power. Policy, however, was light. … the industrial revival didn’t really get going until the election of Joe Biden. While the Biden administration kept, and expanded, tariffs on China, it was its explicit turn to industrial policy that changed the trajectory. … Meanwhile, Trump’s tariffs have likely already led to shedding of US manufacturing jobs.” (02/19/26)

https://archive.is/fDMrA

Source: Cato Institute
by Romina Boccia

“year into President Trump’s second term, inflation may have eased, falling from 3 percent year-over-year in January 2025 to 2.7 percent in December, but the cost of living remains elevated for many households. This affordability challenge is the result of fiscal excess and politicized policymaking that have raised costs while undermining confidence in the U.S. economy.” (02/19/26)

https://www.cato.org/commentary/consumer-confidence-sags-policy-prescriptions-miss-mark