“Suppose someone proposed to tax the country $500 billion a year — which comes to $4,000 per household annually, and more than $6 trillion if we do the scoring over a decade. And then they propose taking this tax revenue and handing the money to the pharmaceutical industry. My guess is that the proposal would be a big topic of debate and likely get many people very angry. That is what government policy is doing now, but we call the taxes ‘patents,’ so no one pays attention to the massive amount of money that the government effectively taxes from us and hands to the pharmaceutical industry.” (03/25/25)
“Throughout the Cold War, progressive figures and movements in Europe and the U.S. were regularly accused of being at best naïve about the Soviet threat, at worst Soviet agents and would-be collaborators. This was accompanied by a constant drumbeat of officially-stoked paranoia about the Soviet menace. When the Cold War ended and the Soviet Union opened up, we were astonished to find not only how weak the Soviet Union and the Soviet military actually were, but that the Soviet leadership had been just as frightened of us as we were of them. Today, too many on the Left are using the same tactics to denounce the Trump administration and European supporters of a compromise peace in Ukraine. There are ample reasons to condemn Trump, and ample ways of doing so; but for anyone who remembers the Cold War, the language of ‘treason,’ ‘collaboration,’ and ‘capitulation’ should not be among them.” (03/25/25)
“The Unitary Executive Theory holds that the Article II of the Constitution creates a hierarchy. The president sits at the top of the hierarchy and bears the responsibility for overseeing enforcement of federal law. The UET has been embraced by the Federalist Society, as well as conservative (and some liberal) law professors, judges, and of course, presidents. Donald Trump is merely the latest president to find the UET attractive. What makes Trump unique is the breadth that he seems to think the UET affords him.” (03/25/25)
“Why is Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, hyperventilating about Social Security? Why is he inventing unhinged tales about ‘fraudulent’ hordes of Social Security grifters? Why is his DOGE chopping away staffers at the already understaffed Social Security Administration? Let’s start with the political reality that most Americans see Social Security as absolutely essential to their future financial security. These average Americans, Musk and his like-minded super wealthy fear, are eventually going to start demanding that America’s rich pay a far bigger share of the revenue Social Security so desperately needs. What are these rich paying now into Social Security? Peanuts.” [editor’s note: What ‘the rich” pay in is capped, but so are the benefit payments they receive. Pizzigati is just upset that his favorite Ponzi scheme can’t fleece bigger “investors” at a higher rate because REASONS – TLK] (03/25/25)
“‘Critics argue that SNAP’s allowance for purchasing sugary snacks, soda and junk food promotes unhealthy eating habits, which can lead to obesity and other related health issues.’ The critics are undoubtedly correct; indeed, the proposed limitations will almost certainly be too tame. If the program must exist, it should do good without enabling demonstrable harm. So instead of a cumbersome and extensive list of prohibited food items, there should be a concise list of allowed categories …” [editor’s note: SNAP is a corporate welfare program for Big Ag. Feeding the poor is the excuse, not the purpose – TLK] (03/25/25)
“Israel has found a captive recently released from Gaza willing to regurgitate some of its most nonsensical talking points on the stage of the United Nations. Predictably, those talking points are already being exploited to justify Israel intensifying its slaughter of Palestinian children in Gaza – and further bully the United Nations into even greater timidity. Eli Sharabi has every reason to feel aggrieved. After all, he not only spent 490 days in captivity in terrifying conditions before his release last month, but emerged to find his family had been killed during Hamas’ break-out from Gaza on 7 October 2023. Nonetheless, sympathy for his plight should not obscure the bigger picture: he has allowed himself to be recruited to the Israeli government’s propaganda campaign for genocide.” (03/25/25)
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by India McKinney
“Once again, several Senators appear poised to gut one of the most important laws protecting internet users — Section 230 (47 U.S.C. § 230). Don’t be fooled — many of Section 230’s detractors claim that this critical law only protects big tech. The reality is that Section 230 provides limited protection for all platforms, though the biggest beneficiaries are small platforms and users. Why else would some of the biggest platforms be willing to endorse a bill that guts the law? In fact, repealing Section 230 would only cement the status of Big Tech monopolies. As EFF has said for years, Section 230 is essential to protecting individuals’ ability to speak, organize, and create online.” (03/24/25)
“Here is a recent headline from Breitbart: ‘Estab Media: AOC New Dem Hope; Calls Grow for Leadership to Go; Far Left Party to Get Even More Radical?’ The answer to the last question is almost surely ‘yes’ for reasons I will note in this article. They aren’t going to stop moving left [sic], folks, because they HAVE no logical stopping place, given their worldview and philosophy. That the media and others in the Democratic Party are calling for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to take the leadership in the Democratic Party possibly does, indeed, indicate just how radical that party has become. AOC is … probably dumber and more fanatical (if that’s possible right now) than Kamala Harris. And yet, I have seen more than one headline/story that indicate she might run for the Democratic Party’s nomination for President in 2028.” (03/25/25)
Source: The Bleeding Heart Libertarian
by Matt Zwolinski
“Like a lot of people these days, I’m pretty worried about the future of constitutional democracy in America. Whatever you think about the substantive merit of Trump’s policy agenda, the process by which he is pursuing it … should be deeply concerning. A lot of libertarians, however, seem not to be concerned at all. In fact, many of them are positively reveling. As they see it, Trump and Musk are tearing down a system that is fundamentally corrupt. And if the methods they employ are somewhat unorthodox, well, what do you expect? The whole system is rigged against reform, so the only way to get the change we need is to operate somewhat outside the normal rules of the game. The fact is, most libertarians just don’t think all that highly of democracy. This isn’t new. And they’re not that subtle about it.” (03/24/25)
Source: Niskanen Center
by Alexandra B Klass & Matthew Appel
“For the first time in decades, electricity demand in the United States is increasing, driven by A.I., new data centers, electric vehicle growth, new manufacturing hubs, and transportation electrification. At the same time, coal-fired power plants have been closing in response to competition from lower-cost natural gas and renewable energy. Clean energy is being rapidly deployed to replace those plants, but this is not happening fast enough to address concerns about demand growth and grid reliability. Specifically, recent electricity market data show that there is a growing imbalance between supply and demand in many regions of the country that threatens to increase electricity prices, delay coal plant retirements, and undermine the clean energy transition in the face of climate-driven increases in extreme weather.” (03/24/25)
