“The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to impose tariff/taxes in Article I, Section 8, clause 1, and it gives Congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations in Article I, Section 8, Clause 3. Trump incorrectly claims that Congress has delegated that power to him under the National Emergencies Act (NEA) and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) by declaring multiple ‘national emergencies’ …. The Supreme Court should narrowly construe the ’emergency power’ these statutes grant to the President, to avoid the conclusion that Congress has delegated its taxing power to the President. I know that in Trump’s mind trade deficits are an ’emergency’ because he thinks they are really a big problem, but that is not what the word ’emergency’ in NEA or IEEPA mean.” (04/10/25)
“The only Muslim country that openly cherishes its Jewish minority did something very helpful on Wednesday. Azerbaijan mediated talks between Israel and Turkey. The aim: to prevent the two Middle East giants from a military clash over a dangerous competition to influence neighboring Syria, newly liberated from a dictator and still in disarray. Azerbaijan’s long friendship with both Turkey and Israel ‘has been proven in difficult times,’ said President Ilham Aliyev. The talks were necessary, he added, to calm tensions that are ‘very troubling.’ Most people in Azerbaijan are close to Turks in language, religion, and culture. Yet their centurieslong embrace of a thriving Jewish community – less than 1% of the population – has stood out in the Islamic world as a model of religious tolerance.” (04/10/25)
“The U.S. tax code is broken. That’s mainly because it collects revenue in an arbitrary, distortionary, and unfair manner. At the heart of the problem are ‘tax expenditures’: credits, deductions, and loopholes that benefit the government’s favorite groups and behaviors. These provisions make the tax code more complicated, less neutral, and less growth oriented than it ought to be. Worse, they shift the burden onto the unfavored groups, requiring higher rates to make up for revenue lost to carveouts. This isn’t just a matter of accounting or administrative complexity; it’s a matter of morals. As the late economist David Bradford observed, our tax code reflects no coherent philosophy.” (04/10/25)
“Someone asked recently what would change as a result of the world being plunged into a trade war by the Rose Garden tariffs. I quipped that either Adam Smith would be proved wrong or we’d all get poorer. (This is also true of the scaled-back tariffs, which still leave American tariffs higher than they’ve been in a century.) In response, as sometimes happens, they brought up Adam Smith’s arguments for tariffs. These arguments come from Book 4, Chapter 2 of Wealth of Nations. They’re a red herring, as we’ll see. But let’s look at how they apply.” (04/10/25)
“In the colonial view of the world — and, in its own strange fashion, Donald Trump’s view couldn’t be more colonial — White European colonizers were embattled beacons of civilization, rationality, and progress, confronting dangerous barbaric hordes beyond (and even, sometimes, within) their own frontiers. Colonial violence then was a necessary form of self-defense needed to tame irrational eruptions of brutality among the colonized. To make sense of the bipartisan U.S. devotion to Israel, including the glorification of Israeli violence and the demonization of Palestinians, as well as the Trump administration’s recent attacks on Black South Africa, student activists, and immigrants, it’s important to grasp that worldview.” (04/10/25)
“While negative real yields are currently no longer an issue for many investors, they are becoming a pressing topic once again, especially for those of us focused on building and preserving savings. The root cause of this issue is inflation. Before we continue discussing future inflation and the emergence of negative real yields, let’s first clarify what the term ‘inflation’ really means.” (04/10/25)
“Modern Democrats have latched onto an argument in favor of illegal [sic] immigration — and it’s the same one pro-slavery Democrats used in the 1800s. ‘So, I had to go around the country and educate people about what immigrants do for this country, or the fact we are a country of immigrants. The fact is ain’t none of y’all trying to go and farm right now,’ Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) said at a speech commemorating Grace Baptist Church’s 125th anniversary in Waterbury, Conn. ‘You’re not, you’re not. We done picking cotton. We are. You can’t pay us enough to find a plantation.’ A cheap, illegal [sic] workforce is necessary, the Democrats argue, and the peoples of Mexico, Honduras, Haiti and other nations should be forced to fill it.” (04/09/25)
“It’s become a common refrain in US foreign policy circles that the rest of the world is free riding on American power. The accusation sounds familiar — other countries enjoy the security provided by US military spending, benefit from American technological innovation, and sell goods into the vast US consumer market, all while contributing little in return. But the story is more layered; for all its complaints, the United States is also free riding on the rest of the world. Let’s start with the classic grievances.” (04/10/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“A new Pew survey has found that a majority of Americans now have a negative view of Israel, with 53 percent of respondents now holding an unfavorable view of the Zionist state — up from 42 percent just three years ago. This comes as Benjamin Netanyahu announces after his latest meeting with Donald Trump that negotiations with Iran will necessarily have to include a ‘Libyan-style’ dismantling of the nation’s civilian nuclear infrastructure in order to avoid the war that the US is openly preparing to wage. This, naturally, is a complete non-starter condition for Iran. It also comes as Trump’s US Citizenship and Immigration Services announces that it’s going to be screening the social media posts of immigrants for ‘antisemitic’ speech, which of course in practice means criticism of Israel and its atrocities.” (04/10/25)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“Immediately after launching his trade war, President Trump surrendered to the ‘enemy.’ Well, okay, it wasn’t a complete surrender. Let’s call it a partial surrender in the form of a unilateral 90-day cease fire. That’s good news, of course, to everyone in the world, including Americans. Well, except for the Chinese people, against whom Trump has decided to continue waging his trade war with tremendous, angry ferocity. But Trump’s immediate capitulation to all the other trade-war ‘enemies’ is not the best news to come out of the tariff/protectionism-versus-free-trade chaos that has ensued ever since Trump resumed the presidency. The best news is the fact that the dominant sentiment in America is clearly in favor of free trade and against economic protectionism, tariffs, and trade wars.” (04/10/25)
