Source: Washington Monthly
by David Lingelbach & Valentina Rodríguez Guerra
“Rule by the rich may look inevitable, but history shows it’s not. From ancient Greece to New Deal America to today’s Hungary, democracies have found ways to separate private fortunes from public power.” (06/18/26)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/06/18/how-to-contain-the-oligarchs/
Source: The Daily Economy
by Barry Brownstein
“Excuses protect us from guilt, but they also rob us of hope. The habit of denying responsibility may be one of the greatest obstacles to personal and social flourishing.” (06/18/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/from-victimhood-to-agency-understanding-what-is-up-to-us/
Source: Fox News
by Laurel Libby
“Now that Graham Platner is officially the Democratic Party’s chosen candidate to face Sen. Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins this November, his campaign staff and the far-left establishment that back him will undoubtedly spend the next five months trying to contain the fallout from his personal history. They will ask voters to look past the domestic abuse allegations, the rhetoric glorifying political violence, the racially charged comments and the Nazi tattoo. They will argue that those controversies are distractions and urge Mainers to focus instead on the issues facing our state. As a Republican serving in the Maine House, I wholeheartedly agree. Because when Mainers look beyond the colorful Platner headlines and turn their focus to his policies, they will find an extreme version of the same progressive agenda that has already made life harder for working families across our state.” (06/18/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/democrats-want-us-focus-graham-platners-policies-fails-maine
Source: CounterPunch
by John K White
“According to the International Energy Agency, the increase in low-emission power generation last year had already outstripped electricity supply growth, almost all of which was solar and wind as coal- and oil-fuelled power generation dropped. Even more energy dominoes have begun falling since the start of the US-Iran war, aided by rising gasoline prices, as much as 30% in the US and Europe. Reaching 20 million new car sales (roughly 25%) in 2025, increased EV adoption is also putting a dent in global petroleum sales.” (06/18/26)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/06/18/todays-new-energy-clean-cheap-safe-and-local/
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by William L Anderson
“Thanks in large part to the erratic and often-destructive policies coming from Donald Trump’s White House, the Democrats are favored to win both houses of Congress, as they hope to flip several Republican-held seats in the House and the Senate. One of the most closely-watched races is the Senate campaign in Maine, where upstart Democrat Graham Platner is favored to end Sen. Susan Collins’s long political career. Platner’s campaign has been deemed controversial mostly because of his unhinged behavior with women, his Nazi tattoo, and social media statements that alone would have disqualified most people even before they could run for office. … the political crudeness that has become the hallmark of Trump and his MAGA followers is not the reason that someone as morally compromised as Platner is now the darling of the Democratic Party. Instead, they love Platner because of his unabashed fealty to socialism.” (06/18/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/oppose-graham-platner-his-socialism-not-just-his-outrageous-behavior
Source: Quillette
by Steve Salerno
“Understanding what has gone wrong with journalism in the US requires an understanding of what has gone wrong with the country’s journalism schools.” (06/18/26)
https://quillette.com/2026/06/18/the-miseducation-of-american-journalists-media-journalism-school/
Source: Independent Institute
by Craig Eyermann
“Since 2009, Social Security has been running in the red, paying out more in benefits than it collects in payroll taxes imposed on both employees and employers. They have been making up the difference by drawing down the program’s Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund. But as they’ve just indicated, under current law, they expect to only be able to do that until sometime in the fourth quarter of 2032, which is just over eight years from now. When that money runs out, everyone receiving Social Security benefits will see them reduced by 22%.” (06/18/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/06/18/outlook-social-security-gets-worse/
Source: EconLog
by Michael Munger
“Public Choice is more than you think. The usual quick definition — ‘applying economics to the study of politics’ — is not wrong, but it’s facile. Public Choice asks how political actors use information and respond to incentives. That’s a lot more than just an application of economic tools to a new context.” (06/18/26)
https://www.econlib.org/library/columns/y2026/mungerpublicchoice
Source: The Bulwark
by Mona Charen
“The approach of July Fourth is making my heart hurt. Love of this country is deep-dyed in my soul, but pondering how or even whether to celebrate the semiquincentennial provokes a riot of mixed feelings.” (06/18/26)
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Giorgio Cafiero
“The roles played by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey in facilitating the ‘Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding’ underscore the extent to which regional actors have invested in creating off-ramps for the United States and Iran, and steering the conflict away from further escalation. Across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), this diplomatic off-ramp has garnered broad relief that the conflict appears to be moving toward de-escalation as Washington and Tehran prepare for talks on the sensitive nuclear and non-nuclear issues. But where the United Arab Emirates (UAE) fits into this broader picture is far from straightforward.” (06/18/26)