Category: Opinion

Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Eldar Mamedov

“The two sides appear interested in compartmentalizing diplomacy outside the war in Ukraine.” (10/02/25)

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-russia-bioweapons/

Source: Common Dreams
by George Cassidy Payne

“At Quantico this week, US President Donald Trump addressed the nation’s top military leaders and delivered a statement that might have sounded like a joke: ‘If you do not like what I am saying, you can leave the room, of course there goes your rank and your future.’ Generals and admirals, mostly white men with a handful of women and people of color, laughed — some nervously. Yet beneath the levity lies a profound departure from established norms. Loyalty to the Constitution was implicitly optional; loyalty to him was emphasized as paramount. Obey, or be discarded. This was not overtly menacing, but the danger lay in the implications — a subtle drift toward personal allegiance rather than institutional fidelity.” (10/02/25)

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-ultimatum-military

Source: CounterPunch
by Dean Baker

“For the last several years I have relied on real (inflation-adjusted) spending at fast food restaurants as a useful gauge of consumer sentiment. I began this during the pandemic recovery when the media were constantly telling us that people were struggling to make ends meet. While this is always true in a country with a weak social safety net and extreme income inequality, the question any serious person asks is whether it’s getting worse or better. I kept pointing to the data showing that, at least for those at the bottom, it seemed to be getting better. … In 2021, 2022, and 2023, real fast-food spending was growing at an average annual rate of 5.4 percent, considerably faster than the 2.9 percent growth rate in the decade prior to the pandemic. But spending largely stagnated in 2024. Real spending in December 2024 was actually 1.0 percent less than it had been in December of 2023. That stagnation has continued into 2025.” (10/02/25)

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/10/02/the-fast-food-index-is-looking-bleak/

Source: Niskanen Center
by Solitaire Carroll

“In the first article of this series, I introduced capability-based budgeting: aligning funding to outcomes, not just projects. At the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), we tested this idea against the realities of the federal budget process — rigid cycles, entrenched habits, and layers of oversight. What we learned were hard but valuable lessons on how to realign dollars around enduring capabilities and cut through the procedural bloat that holds agencies back.” (10/02/25)

https://www.niskanencenter.org/fragmented-projects-to-focused-products

Source: Antiwar.com
by Rick Sterling

“Factual information about Israel and Palestine may soon be outlawed in the California K-12 school system. Assembly Bill 715 is currently on Governor Newsom’s desk. The legislation was recently rushed through the California legislature, amended just days before passage, and voted on at 1 a.m. with almost no time for public comment. The hurry is intentional because opposition grows whenever people learn about it. … If passed, AB715 will result in strict regulation of education and educational material that might subject Jewish students to ‘unlawful discrimination.’ Facts and informed opinions about the reality in Israel and Palestine may be considered ‘antisemitic’ or likely to cause discomfort.” (10/02/25)

https://original.antiwar.com/rick_sterling/2025/10/01/will-california-zionise-k-12-education/

Source: Show-Me Institute
by Elias Tsapelas

“Missouri’s Medicaid enrollment numbers are telling a story, but it may not be one that the federal government wants to hear. Late last year, I wrote about a sharp and troubling decline in the number of permanently and totally disabled (PTD) Missourians enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program. Since then, the enrollment numbers have continued their downward trend, and now have fallen by more than 30,000, or 20%, since 2019, which is significantly lower than any point Missouri has seen in the last two decades. At first glance, some might assume this drop is simply a byproduct of the state’s post-pandemic Medicaid redeterminations. But as I’ve written before, I fear that explanation doesn’t add up. Permanently disabled recipients aren’t people you expect to lose coverage once their eligibility is established, given that they’re unlikely to re-enter the workforce. Instead, the data and a new quote suggest a different story: PTD shifting.” (10/01/25)

https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/medicaid/medicaid-in-trouble/

Source: Brownstone Institute
by Jeffrey A Tucker

“A website specializing in data visuals offered a helpful graphic on global inflation, 2020-2025, with no other comment about how or why this happened. The results are eye-popping and amazing, and a reminder that hardly anyone has fully come to terms with what transpired over five years. Most currencies in the world took a 25-35 percent haircut, Far East excepted. That’s a technical description that obscures what actually happened. The measures by which most people in the world hold the liquid part of their worldly possessions – the money they earned through hard work and saving – was robbed by a quarter and more. Where did it go? After all, the wealth didn’t sink in the ocean. It was transferred from one group to another. It went from the poor and middle class to the elites in well-connected industries and government.” (10/01/25)

https://brownstone.org/articles/the-coup-the-calamity-and-the-conspiracy/

Source: Town Hall
by Larry Elder

“After Hamas'[s] horrific Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of 1,200 Jews and the seizure of 250 Jewish hostages, the headlines cried out in shock, anger and astonishment. The New York Times wrote, ‘As world leaders condemned the attacks — and questions arose about how Israeli intelligence had been so surprised — ordinary citizens tried to make sense of what was happening.’ On Oct. 7, 2023, New York Times columnist Bret Stephens wrote: ‘Thanks to defensive systems like Iron Dome, Hamas’s punches, while frequent and menacing, rarely landed. For Israelis, Gaza seemed relatively contained. That was, until this weekend. Whatever happens next in the current war, this concept (to borrow another term from the Yom Kippur War era, related to Israel’s confidence that it wouldn’t be attacked) has clearly failed. Israel has a clear interest not just in punishing Hamas but also in ending its rule for good.'” (10/02/25)

https://townhall.com/columnists/larryelder/2025/10/02/how-did-oct-7-become-a-distant-memory-n2664333

Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Tyler MacQueen

“Much has been made about the financial implications of Trump’s shocking movie mandate. But beyond the economic concerns, both the industry and elected officials alike have failed to consider the broader constitutional implications of the president’s chaotic posts, should the tariffs actually be implemented. Nestled in his posts, declaring offshore film productions a ‘National Security threat,’ Trump further justified the tariffs this year by labeling foreign films as ‘propaganda.’ For any American who cares about free speech, that should be the cue to jump up and holler, ‘Cut!’” (10/01/25)

https://www.thefire.org/news/trumps-tinseltown-tariffs-threaten-free-speech

Source: The UnPopulist
by Cathy Young

“The secretary is a Christian nationalist who wants to eliminate those who don’t agree with his totalitarian vision.” (10/01/25)

https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/hegseths-hatred-of-americans-makes