Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by David Hebert
“This explainer will lay out the federal budget relay race process that takes a proposed spending plan from a wishlist to an actual check while operating under rules designed to keep total spending in line.” (10/21/26)
Source: LP Alliance
“Martin SIC and Assistant Treasurer Selection!” (10/20/26)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Connor O’Keeffe
“As some have pointed out, the size of the diesel export agreed to in this supposed deal, and the scale of the sanctions that are being waived, are really quite small. This move is unlikely to have a meaningful impact on the pain Americans are feeling because of the artificially high diesel prices or change Russia’s posture in the war. But the waiver is interesting for a different reason. Because it is, in many ways, an admission that those of us who oppose Washington’s reflexive use of economic sanctions are right. It is remarkably well-documented that sanctions are atrociously bad at doing what we’re told they’re supposed to do—weaken and delegitimize a regime in the eyes of their domestic population to the point where they’re either overthrown or forced to change course by their revolting citizens.” (10/21/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/trump-right-lift-diesel-sanctions-russia-he-should-go-further
Source: CBS News
“The online predictions market platform Polymarket has removed a contract that allowed users to bet on whether any of the seven men accused of sexually assaulting or exploiting a Cornell student in 2024 will be charged with a felony sex crime. More than $450,000 had been wagered on this question before it was taken off Polymarket’s platform. It had been available since Sept. 30 and was slated to close on Jan. 31. The company’s U.S. exchange is regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which bans trading related to ‘activity that is unlawful under Federal or State law.’ … Online critics characterized the Polymarket contract as degrading and questioned why celebrity ambassadors would associate themselves with the company.” (10/21/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/polymarket-cornell-7-sexual-assault-bets/
Source: The Corbett Report
“Think Tanks, Stink Tanks!” (10/21/26)
Source: Expression
by Jacob Mchangama
“The Emancipation Proclamation, the defeat of the Confederacy and the adoption of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments prohibiting slavery and promising equal protection and the right to vote for the recently emancipated Black population seemed to fulfill Douglass’ life’s mission as an abolitionist and human rights defender. Yet over the following decades, Douglass’[s] joy at emancipation was mixed with bitter disappointment at the stark contrast between the fine principles enshrined in these documents and their practical nullification through oppressive laws, racist terror and mob action in the South.” (10/21/26)
https://expression.fire.org/p/douglass-and-the-betrayal-of-freedom
Source: Antiwar.com
by Nolan Denaro
“In his moment of peril, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is seeking assistance. Pakistan has pledged to militarily support the Saudis, citing the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement. France has also committed assets to Saudi Arabia, with President Emmanuel Macron saying that ‘Soldiers, radars, defense systems’ will be used to defend Saudi energy infrastructure. Egypt’s National Defense Council – led by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi – has announced that they plan to use ‘all possible forms of support’ to help the Saudis. … MBS has also been relentless in his push for direct U.S. military involvement. In September, he called President Donald Trump multiple times to request that he assist the Saudis, specifically that he order the U.S. military to engage in direct strikes against Houthi forces. … Despite the bluster coming from those advocating for intervention, a move to engage in strikes on Yemen would be a dreadful mistake.” (10/21/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/nolan_denaro/2026/10/20/mr-president-dont-strike-yemen
Source: Los Angeles Times
by Jonah Goldberg
“There is an enormous difference between the United States declining to provide additional military assistance to a country fighting for its survival and deliberately interfering with its ability to defend itself. The disruption fits a broader pattern of Trump administration decisions that have constrained Ukraine while offering concessions to Russia.” (10/21/26)
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Charles Goyette
“The liberal tradition that is central to Western civilization sees the individual as the bearer of rights, the locus in which conscience manifests itself. It is in the individual that freedom is experienced. Yet these jewels in the crown of Western civilization were crowded out by the speech’s undisguised imperial core: national power, relentless ambition, adventure, risk and glory, skyrocketing defense spending, historic defense commitments. Nor did the sweep of [Marco Rubio’s] survey acknowledge that the failure of the West’s will to survive is an inevitable and sorrowful compensation for the vitality drained by its imperial overextension.” (10/21/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/a-western-civ-speech-only-a-neocon-could-love/
Source: The Atlantic
by David Frum
“‘BALANCED BUDGET!!! DJT’ Donald Trump posted that promise on February 7, 2025, the 18th day of his current presidential term. During the 2024 campaign, he had promised even more: the elimination of the entire national debt in a single term of office. Trump insisted that he could reach his budget goals without disagreeable spending cuts. … Instead, he proposed eliminating deficits and debt with magic money from growth, from crypto, and—above all—from tariffs. Tariffs would generate so much revenue that they might replace the income tax, maybe even finance a $2,000 dividend for every American taxpayer.
Basic budget math contradicted Trump’s fantasies.” (10/21/26)