“‘Affordability’ epitomizes how Trump is floundering on what had been one of his strongest issues. A Gallup survey found that only 36% of Americans approve of Trump’s economic performance while a Fox News poll found that 76% of voters disapprove of Trump’s economy — an even worse rating than Joe Biden scored at the end of his presidency. The White House acts as if more bluster can solve the problem. But is the Trump administration now targeting its economic message solely to people who failed high-school mathematics? On Truth Social last month, Trump proclaimed, ‘DRUG PRICES ARE FALLING AT LEVELS NEVER SEEN BEFORE, 500%, 600%, 700%, and more.’ Actually, drug prices cannot fall more than 100% unless people are getting paid to swallow the durn free pills. But it’s worse than that. Prescription-drug prices have in fact increased roughly 2% this year, according to federal data.” (12/08/25)
“Bitcoin attempted a late weekend rally, but even those small gains were mostly reversed in early U.S. action Monday, with the price quietly settling in near the $90,000 area for the remainder of the day. Trading around $90,500 as U.S. stocks closed, bitcoin was lower by about 1% over the past 24 hours. Altcoin majors also struggled to hold on to their gains. … While the crypto action was muted, long duration government bond yields spiked amid fears of trouble in Japanese bonds spilling over to the other markets. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield surged to 4.19%, its highest level in about three months, while U.K. and other European countries’ government debt also sold off.” (12/08/25)
“In these fraught political times when our political choices are largely limited to authoritarian Republicans and totalitarian Democrats and federal agencies vie for opportunities to violate individual rights, it’s difficult to feel anything other than contempt for government. It’s worth remembering, though, that the current mess isn’t a good representation of the Founding ideals of our republic. In particular, consider the protections for liberty embodied in the Bill of Rights, which is celebrated every December 15.” (12/08/25)
“Congress is using its marquee defense [sic] bill to force the Pentagon into turning over videos of strikes against suspected drug-smuggling boats off the coast of Latin America. Lawmakers plan to withhold a quarter of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel budget until the Pentagon provides them with the videos. The demand, quietly tucked into the final draft of the annual defense [sic] policy bill, calls for ‘unedited video of strikes conducted against designated terrorist organizations in the area of responsibility of the United States Southern Command’ to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees. Congressional leaders released their final draft of the defense [sic] bill Sunday, which is expected to be approved — without changes — by the House later this week and then the Senate.” (12/08/25)
“In one sense, the global crackdown on online speech is understandable. Most people support freedom of speech, but balance this support with their support of other priorities, such as their desire to cultivate a culture that respects the rights and dignity of minorities. In the last decade, social media has shocked many of us with evidence of how heinous the views of some of our fellow citizens are. It’s understandable that someone might see a post on X with thousands of likes that implies that black Americans are genetically inferior to white Americans, and conclude that the government ought to do something to punish this kind of hateful speech. But for all that the impulse to censor can be noble-hearted, it’s also wrong-headed. In practice, attempts to punish so-called hate speech run into several big problems.” (12/08/25)
“British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the leaders of France and Germany discussed the ‘positive progress’ made to use frozen Russian sovereign assets to support Ukraine, Downing Street said on Monday. ‘The leaders all agreed that now is a critical moment and that we must continue to ramp up support to Ukraine and economic pressure on Putin to bring an end to this barbaric war,’ said a spokesperson for Starmer.” (12/08/25)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“The U.S. Navy has a Combat Action Ribbon (CAR) that is comparable to the Combat Infantry Badge (CIB) in the army. These are awarded to military personnel who engage in combat during wartime. Does the U.S. Navy plan on handing out the CAR to all the Navy personnel who have participated in the attacks on those small boats on the high seas near Venezuela, which have resulted in the killings of more than 80 people? Given President Trump’s and the Pentagon’s ‘we-are-at-war’ assertion, I don’t see why they wouldn’t hand out that combat ribbon. But if I were one of those Navy personnel, I’d be embarrassed to wear that ‘combat’ ribbon on my uniform. … In fact, I think the Navy should issue a brand new ribbon — the Combat Cowardice Ribbon — to all the Navy personnel who have participated in those drug-war killings.” (12/08/25)
“For six months, Apple distributed an app called ICEBlock that allowed users to alert people when they saw Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. But after the Trump administration complained that the app endangered officers, Apple removed it. On Monday, the app’s developer, Joshua Aaron, sued top Trump administration officials, accusing them of pressuring Apple to stifle his free speech and his right to create, distribute and promote ICEBlock. The suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claimed that Attorney General Pam Bondi abused the government’s power when the Justice Department contacted Apple and demanded it remove the app, which she said she had done in a statement to Fox News in October. She said that Apple removed the app after her request.” (12/08/25)
Source: Independent Institute
by Abigail R Hall & Patrik Ward
“As tensions between Washington and Caracas intensify, over 250,000 Venezuelans living legally in the United States are set to lose their Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a temporary immigration status that allows individuals from certain countries to live and work in the United States if their home country is considered unsafe. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has framed keeping these Venezuelans in the country as ‘contrary to national interest.’ In reality, revoking TPS is not sound policy; it is bad economics aligned with worse ethics. This policy does nothing to help the American public. It does, however, endanger thousands of people who fled an erratic authoritarian regime and lays bare the overwhelming hypocrisy coming from Washington.” (12/08/25)
