“In one sense, the debate about abundance is about the future of the left in America. That is the political agenda underlying many of the economic ideas promoted by the journalists Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson in their 2025 book Abundance. Right now, the center-left in America is fixated on regulating everything to realize greater social justice in the economy. Abundance liberals like Klein and Thompson, however, want to shift the left’s attention towards the matter of how we can diminish many of the blockages that create artificial scarcities throughout the United States. The fight about abundance on the left, however, has great import for the right as well. The lurch toward economic nationalism and populist economics on the part of large segments of the right has made the possibility of deeper conversations and even possible alliances with abundanistas a live topic among classical liberals and fiscal conservatives.” (04/30/26)
“A swing-seat congressional primary in Nebraska that’s already swarming with outside spending has a new twist with a familiar ring. Big money from a pro-Israel super PAC was en route to help its preferred candidate, but the ham-fisted attempt to conceal that support may backfire on its intended beneficiary, centrist New Democrat–endorsed candidate Denise Powell. Since mid-March, outside groups have spent $2.93 million (as of April 29) in Nebraska’s Second Congressional District, supporting Powell and opposing state Sen. John Cavanaugh, a populist candidate with an extensive personal and family political history in the Omaha region that the district encompasses. Cavanaugh had been the early favorite in the race for the open seat vacated by Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) and won by Democrats in the last two presidential elections. The nearly $3 million already poured into the contest is an enormous amount for the relatively modest media market of Omaha and environs.” (04/30/26)
“[T]he term ’86’ has been around since the 1930s, commonly used in restaurants and other contexts to mean ‘get rid of,’ ‘throw out,’ or ‘refuse service to.’ When combined with the number 47, referring to our current 47th president, the message becomes clear: Get rid of Trump. To assume that ’86’ means ‘kill’ or ‘assassinate’ is, at best, uncharitable. There are obvious ways to ‘get rid of’ a president without ending his life …. Even if they can somehow establish that ’86’ unambiguously means what they say it means, the prosecution still has their work cut out for them. … The law is clear that merely wishing for someone’s death is and should be protected speech, as distasteful as it may be, absent more evidence proving intent to cause harm.” (04/30/26)
“I have written before on the AI bubble. The stock valuations we are seeing now look a lot like the valuations we saw before the Internet bubble began to crash in 2000. Even a quarter century later, people miss much of the story of that bubble. It’s true we had companies that never made a profit, like Pets.com, with valuations in the billions. But the story went far beyond some flaky companies having ridiculous market capitalizations. The irrational exuberance, to use Alan Greenspan’s great term, infected everything.” (04/30/26)
“Chicago Public Schools has struck a deal with the city’s teachers’ union that turns students into political props. On May 1, a regular school day, children will participate in rallies and civic lessons before being bused to a union rally at Union Park. The agreement promises no retaliation for participants and for joint lobbying in Springfield. This deal does nothing to advance education. It simply enables the union to use children as pawns to demand more money from the very taxpayers funding the system.” (04/30/26)
“Florida Republicans have approved a new congressional map that could hand them as many as four House seats that Democrats currently hold. Their goal is straightforward and universally understood: They want to bolster the GOP’s majority in Congress and retake the lead in a yearlong, nationwide partisan gerrymandering showdown with Democrats. Good luck, however, getting top Republicans in the Sunshine State to openly admit that. In contrast with other states that have held lengthy and freewheeling public debates over redistricting during the past year, the drive to redraw maps in Florida has been marked by secrecy and obfuscation. Republicans can’t acknowledge the intent of their gerrymandering proposal, because the state constitution expressly prohibits partisan redistricting.” (04/29/26)
“The Supreme Court striking down Democrat racism in the drawing of Congressional districts set off a predictable wave of panic across the Left [sic], as the concept of having to make a case to voters who aren’t simply blindly loyal to the party began to sink in. … they absolutely refuse to have a conversation with an American who will not bow down to their left-wing [sic] agenda. Why? Because they can’t. There is no case to be made by the Left [sic] to normal people, so they refuse to and have created districts of the obedient to serve the party, as nothing scares the hell out of a Democrat more than having to compete for anything based on merit.” (04/30/26)
“American Independence was built on the understanding that compliance with arbitrary power isn’t safety – or peace. It’s surrender. That’s an essential, but long-forgotten foundation of the American Revolution: Laws made outside the limits of the constitution aren’t law at all. And they should be treated that way too.” (04/29/26)
