“To ‘corrupt’ a person or thing (per the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary) is to ‘draw aside from the path of rectitude and duty … debase or render impure by alterations or innovations.’ In order for the Qataris to ‘corrupt’ Trump, he’d necessarily have displayed some semblance of ‘rectitude’ prior to their interactions. Americans knew that was far from the case before they elected him to the presidency the first time in 2016, and gathered eight more years of demonstration proofs to the contrary before electing him a second time in 2024. The golf resort deal and the 747 ‘donation’ may be immoral and illegal, but that’s just the story of Trump’s entire adult life in business, entertainment, and politics. There’s nothing honest or dutiful there for the Qataris TO corrupt. They’re just cashing in on his best-known character trait. Nor is Trump an outlier in American politics.” (05/15/25)
“If you voted for President Donald Trump last November because you believed he’d increase economic freedom, it’s safe to say you were fooled. Following a reckless tariff barrage, the White House and its allies are preparing a new wave of tax code gimmickry that has more in common with progressive social engineering than pro-growth reform. And don’t forget a fiscal recklessness that mirrors the mistakes of the left. Defend these policies if you like, but let’s be clear: The administration shows no coherent commitment to free market principles and is in fact actively undermining them. Its approach is better described as central planning disguised as economic nationalism.” (05/15/25)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by William L Anderson
“The problem with the FAA is not a lack of political will or the failure of Congress to fund the system. Rather, the problem is that a government agency oversees air traffic control (ATC) instead of private enterprise.” (05/15/25)
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen
“In their latest Foreign Affairs essay, National Security Council official Kurt Campbell and State Department China policy director Rush Doshi argue that the United States is underestimating the strategic threat posed by the People’s Republic of China and must build a vast, integrated coalition to confront it. They present an image of an ascendant, industrially and technologically superior China, one capable of overwhelming the United States unless Washington retools its alliances into a cohesive, scaled-up security and economic bloc. It is, in many ways, a polished version of the same alarmist narrative that has animated American grand strategy since the end of the Cold War — this time with China cast in the role of existential adversary.” (05/15/25)
“I remember the phrase from my boyhood, listening to baseball games on the old wooden radio by my bed. A major hitter would be up and — bang! — he’d connect with the ball in a big-time fashion. The announcer in a rising voice would then say dramatically: ‘It’s going, going, gone!’ It was a phrase connected to success of the first order. It was Duke Snider or Mickey Mantle hitting a homer. It was a winner all the way around the bases. Today, though no one may say it anymore, somewhere deep inside my mind I can still hear it. But now, at least for me, it’s connected to another kind of hitter entirely and another kind of reality as well. I’m thinking, of course, about the president of these (increasingly dis-)United States of America …” (05/15/25)
“We have now been riding President Trump’s economic roller coaster for more than three months. With wind in our hair and seatbelts fastened, we have yet to arrive at the ‘golden age’ touted by the president as our ultimate destination. Many riders have been feeling queasy. Some insist that the fun part is still to come. Preliminary announcements of pending trade deals with United Kingdom and China suggest the worst of the trade wars may be behind us. Still, to paraphrase Elvis, we’re ‘all shook up,’ and it’s a good time to take stock.” (05/15/25)
“In September 1939, Europe entered a strange historical period known as the phony war that lasted until the following spring. Having guaranteed Poland’s independence, Britain and France declared war when Germany invaded. But then nothing much occurred for months other than some naval skirmishes. Only with the blitzkrieg offensive of late spring did the phony war start to seem real. History produces these moments from time to time, liminal pauses when it’s clear that something has happened, but it doesn’t feel as if it’s happened yet. One of them is our AI revolution, which is underway but visible only in a few odd spots, like a cheating wave engulfing U.S. schools. So when I warn people to prepare for what’s coming, a common retort is that they’ll believe it when they see it.” (05/15/25)
“The top tax rate wealthy Americans pay on their investment gains today runs barely half the top rate the rest of us pay on our wages. But that only begins to tell the story of how lightly taxed our richest have become compared to the rest of us. On the surface, the nominal tax rate on long-term capital gains from investments seems somewhat progressive, even given the reality that this rate sits lower than the tax rate on ordinary income. Single taxpayers with $48,350 or less in taxable income face a zero capital gains tax rate. Taxpayers with over $533,400 in taxable income, meanwhile, face a 23.8% tax on their capital gains, a rate that includes a 3.8% net investment income tax. But these numbers shroud the real picture. In reality, we tax the ultra-rich on their investment gains less, not more.” (05/15/25)
