“Washington’s Iran hawks — including some Democrats and former Biden administration officials — are denouncing the Trump administration for agreeing to upfront sanctions relief and other confidence-building measures in its preliminary deal, or memorandum of understanding (MoU), with Tehran. But their criticism leaves one obvious question unanswered: what is their alternative other than another round of war? Trump did not arrive at these concessions because he suddenly discovered the virtues of diplomacy. He tried war first. … It is precisely because the military option failed to force political change in Iran — and because the closure of the Strait of Hormuz imposed mounting costs on Washington and the global economy — that the Trump administration was left with little choice but to return to serious diplomacy. And serious diplomacy was always going to require upfront concessions from the United States.” (06/29/26)
“Political pressure has made it harder to distinguish sound monetary policy from strategic posturing. Congress, not SCOTUS, is empowered to change that.” (06/29/26)
“Paine warned that complacency endangers liberty, and that only when freedom is threatened do people discover whether they are willing to defend it.” (06/29/26)
“The failure of America’s education system has been one of the greatest disasters, maybe the greatest, in the nation’s history. We handed most educational institutions over to the government, which means they would be run by politicians, who care for nothing but their own power and self-aggrandizement and control of others. Freedom is not what government wants; indeed, it is the very antithesis thereof. America’s Founders recognized that some government is necessary to protect our rights against monsters who would try to take them from us. Thus, government, which is, by definition, the collectivization (or nationalization) of force to secure us against evil, has a purpose to play in a nation. But since the government largely controls the power, it is very dangerous to liberty. Our Founders understood that, which is why they tried to limit the power and role of government in American society.” (06/29/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Mark Nayler
“Every seven years, the EU approves a new budget, known as a Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The next MFF will cover the period 2028–34, and has been described by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen as ‘the most ambitious ever proposed.’ It has to be approved unanimously by the end of 2027, but with general elections due in almost a third of the bloc’s 27 countries next year (France, Italy, Poland, Spain, Greece, Estonia, Finland, and Slovakia), the pressure is on to have negotiations wrapped up by Christmas. After a two-day summit in Brussels on June 18 and 19, however, only one point of agreement had been reached: to bring new funding ideas to the next brainstorming session in October.” (06/29/26)
“A bill to update the antitrust laws in the nation’s most populous state faces a critical legislative hearing this week. At a time when California is among the states being relied upon as a substitute for proper antitrust enforcement, which is moribund at the federal level thanks to Trump administration corruption, advocates say the state must have a full suite of tools to succeed. Monied interests are working diligently to stop the bill, but it gained important momentum late last week when a key senator signed on. The office of state Sen. Ben Allen, who is running for statewide office to become California’s insurance commissioner, told the Prospect that ‘the Senator is very likely going to be supporting the bill.’ Allen was one of a handful of Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats whose position on the bill was uncertain as of last week.” (06/29/26)
