Author: Thomas L. Knapp

Source: Foreign Policy
by Stephen M Walt

“The United States is still good at many things, but holding elites to account is not one of them. President Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon, George H. W. Bush pardoned the officials responsible for the Iran-Contra scandal, and Barack Obama declined to prosecute the men and women who had authorized the illegal use of torture. The architects of the disastrous wars in Vietnam and Iraq remained respected members of the establishment for the rest of their lives, in some cases occupying leadership posts or comfortable sinecures at prominent institutions and continuing to opine on foreign-policy matters whenever they wished. Nor were the fraudsters who brought us the 2008 financial crisis ever held to account—we just turned the page and moved on. Given that record, it isn’t so surprising that the United States tends to repeat past errors.” (04/09/26)

https://archive.is/hn2CD

Source: Popular Information
by Rebecca Crosby

“In an unprecedented move, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it had filed lawsuits against several states to block their efforts to rein in prediction markets. Arizona, Connecticut, and Illinois have variously sought to prevent Kalshi, Polymarket, Crypto.com, and Robinhood from running what they claim are ‘unlicensed gambling sites that circumvent state laws.’ Several of these companies are business partners of President Trump and his family members.” (04/09/26)

https://popular.info/p/trumps-cftc-goes-to-war-with-states

Source: Liberal Currents

“Trent and Caitlin ask Greg Sargent of the New Republic what he learned from experts about the ideology that underpins Pete Hegseth’s attitude toward violence.” (04/09/26)

https://www.liberalcurrents.com/no-quarter-no-mercy-understanding-pete-hegseth-half-the-answer-77-with-greg-sargent/

Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Tom Wilson

“Housing costs in New York City have reached a level that many people can no longer afford. The response has been to push for more control—limits on rent increases and expanded tenant protections. The intention is clear. However, housing markets respond to incentives, not intentions. Under Zohran Mamdani, New York City is moving further in that direction. The focus is on limiting rent increases, expanding tenant protections, and increasing the role of government in the housing market. The policy has not fully taken effect yet. Once these rules interact with rising costs, the housing market will respond to the incentives. Rent control keeps rents down, but it does not keep costs down for the landlord.” (04/09/26)

https://mises.org/power-market/why-rent-control-fails-lessons-new-york-portland

Source: Law & Liberty
by John O McGinnis

“In his piquant memoir, Streetwise, Lloyd Blankfein, former CEO of Goldman Sachs, shares an arresting anecdote about the administrative state. The SEC sued Goldman for allegedly misleading investors about the risks of mortgage-backed securities. Blankfein considered the suit meritless but settled for $550 million. ‘You can’t litigate against your regulator. It’s like a Star Trek episode: an alien controls the Enterprise’s bridge and threatens to shut off life support unless the ship surrenders.’ The dilemma for the regulated firm is that even if it wins the suit, its regulating agency has many other ways to make life unpleasant.” (04/09/26)

https://lawliberty.org/government-by-settlement/