Category: Opinion

The Federal Spending Spree Will Make the Next Economic Shock Even Worse

Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille

“You’re probably tired of hearing about the U.S. government’s looming debt crisis, because it’s a continuing backdrop to political conversations in this country. Unfortunately, the government’s debt problem comes up so often because most politicians do very little to address the issue. Year after year, they spend more than the government collects in revenue. A new report cautions that growing federal debt not only guarantees a day of reckoning but hobbles chances of fixing the situation.” (03/18/26)

https://reason.com/2026/03/18/the-federal-spending-spree-will-make-the-next-economic-shock-even-worse/

Thomas L. Knapp

Ending the deceit that lures Africans into Russia’s war

Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff

“For most of the four-year war in Ukraine, Russia’s trading partners in Africa have maintained a studied silence on the issue. These nations rely on Russia for crucial imports – especially the oil that fuels their modernization and the wheat that feeds their burgeoning populations. But recently, civilians in several of these trade-dependent countries have pushed their governments to speak up about a much different, much murkier type of trade with Russia – the deceitful trafficking in humans who are forcibly thrown into the Russian battlefront in Ukraine. Last month, families of Kenyan men allegedly duped into fighting for Russia held protests in Nairobi, as the government revealed that more than 1,000 citizens had been so recruited. ‘These are … matters of human rights, national responsibility, and continental dignity,’ declared the Centre for Investigative Journalism in Zambia.” (03/17/26)

https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0317/Ending-the-deceit-that-lures-Africans-into-Russia-s-war

Steve Trinward

Mandatory Conscription Makes War Easier, Not Harder to Fight

Source: CounterPunch
by Ron Jacobs

“An aspect of the argument that a draft would make politicians think twice before allowing a war to take place because politicians’ children might get drafted into the war is not really much of an argument when considered historically. Looking at the last war where US citizens were drafted — the war in Vietnam, it is more than apparent that those draftees who did most of the killing and dying in that war were working class men. If those men were black, they were even more likely to end up as nothing but cannon fodder. … Another part of this same argument is that the US people would be more likely to oppose US involvement in a war if their children were involved. Once again, history tells us something different.” (03/18/26)

https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/03/18/mandatory-conscription-makes-war-easier-not-harder-to-fight/

Thomas L. Knapp

Donald Trump, Petropresident

Source: Paul Krugman
by Paul Krugman

“Why did Donald Trump attack Iran? Did he believe that a quick victory would boost his poll ratings? Was he looking for a way to change the subject from the Epstein files and affordability? Was he seduced into war by the Israeli government? The answer, surely, is all of the above. Bad decisions don’t have to have a single explanation. In fact, debacles on the scale of what we’re now experiencing usually have multiple causes. But when I look into the larger picture of Trump administration policy — not just the attack on Iran but domestic policies, especially the administration’s seemingly irrational hatred of renewable energy and its determination to keep America burning fossil fuels no matter what — I keep coming back to the huge influence now being wielded by oil money.” (03/18/26)

https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/donald-trump-petropresident

Thomas L. Knapp

Yes, MAGA’s Fracturing Over Iran

Source: The American Conservative
by Andrew Day

“I AM THAT I AM. Thus spake God to Moses, instructing him to ‘say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.’ President Donald Trump has been saying something similar lately: I AM MAGA! Trump’s latest declaration of his MAGA-ness came in a long post on Truth Social defending the Israel-first blowhard Mark Levin, who has gotten into recent spats on social media with conservatives who criticize the war with Iran. … Many Trump voters have been surprised to learn that ‘MAGA is about’ war on Iran. To be sure, Trump hasn’t always been rhetorically consistent on matters of war and peace, but in 2016 he distinguished himself in the Republican primary by lambasting the Forever Wars, in particular the one in Iraq. And in the 2020 and 2024 elections he bragged about not starting any new wars in his first term.” (03/18/26)

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/yes-magas-fracturing-over-iran/

Thomas L. Knapp

Immigration questions for Markwayne Mullin

Source: The Watch
by Radley Balko

“Stephen Miller has reportedly set a quota that federal immigration officers deport 3,000 people per day. Do you think arrest/deportation quotas are good policy? Miller’s reported ultimate goal is to deport more than a million people per year. No country has ever forcibly displaced that many people without mass casualties, particularly in such a short period of time. Do you think this is a realistic goal? Do you think the U.S. currently has the infrastructure to deport that many people humanely? Does it matter if it’s done humanely? DHS has routinely denied members of Congress access to immigration detention facilities despite a federal law that authorizes members to enter and inspect any facility unannounced. Will you enforce that law, or will DHS continue to ignore it under your watch?” (03/18/26)

https://radleybalko.substack.com/p/immigration-questions-for-markwayne

Thomas L. Knapp

Senate GOP should take Fetterman’s deal on voter ID

Source: Fox News
by David Marcus

“Over the next several days, perhaps even stretching into next week, the United States Senate, that grave and august deliberative body, will performatively waste time with impassioned speeches over the SAVE America Act, which they all know will never pass. There may, however, be an off ramp to this Mobius loop of legislative futility: A proposal from Sen. John Fetterman [D-PA] would have the upper body vote on a clean, simple, voter ID bill, without provisions regarding mail-in ballots or citizenship. Make no mistake, President Donald Trump is correct that all the provisions of the SAVE America Act, including one banning men from women’s sports have broad popular support, and are of vital importance. But if the bill cannot pass, then so what?” (03/18/26)

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/david-marcus-senate-gop-should-take-fettermans-deal-voter-id

Steve Trinward