“President Trump blew up one of the biggest myths of our time, particularly among Republicans, that spending more on the military is essential to keeping us safe. There is a vast and well-funded network of political and industrial interests that depend on maintaining that myth, from the weapons manufacturers to the mainstream media to the think tanks and beyond. Why? Because most of what is called ‘defense spending’ has little to do with defending this country and a lot to do with enriching the politically well-connected. Maintaining that global military empire has bankrupted the United States while making us less safe and less free. President Trump seems to understand this. But the military-industrial complex and its cheerleaders have for decades pushed the idea that we could not survive without continuously increasing their budgets.” (02/18/25)
“Legal academia has been long overdue for a book-length critique, and Ilya Shapiro’s Lawless: The Miseducation of America’s Elites delivers — released just as Trump’s election victory appears to signal a turning of the tide on wokeness. A good deal of scholarly ink has been spilled exposing the absurd degree of wokeness and suppression of debate in higher education generally, but not so much regarding law schools in particular.” (02/18/25)
“One of the themes recurring in conservative media these days is the normalization of Donald Trump by historical analogy. This kind of sweeping arrogation of power, we’re told by Wall Street Journal editorialists, columnist George Will, and other conservative commentators, has ample precedents in the records of progressive presidents particularly: Woodrow Wilson, both Roosevelts, Lyndon Johnson, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden. So why this harping on poor Donald Trump? Trump’s overreaching claims to power, Will tells us, ‘is an institutional consequence of progressivism.’ Journal editorialists note that ‘Mr. Trump is stretching laws to see what he can get away with, but so have other recent Presidents,’ including both Obama and Biden. As historical analysis, this is malicious piffle.” (02/17/25)
“We are told that ‘there’s nothing to see’ in the recent revelations about how USAID was subsidizing Politico. At Reason, Robby Soave pooh-poohed the story: ‘some critics of USAID have seized on a misleading claim: Namely, that the organization was funneling millions of dollars to Politico. In reality, it appears that government agents were paying for subscriptions to Politico’s premium product. That may or may not be a worthwhile use of government funds (more on this in a moment), but at any rate, it does not represent some kind of direct subsidy to the news outlet.’ It could be, however, a subsidy with plausible deniability. The keyword may be: Mockingbird.” (02/18/25)
Source: The American Conservative
by Kevin Hawickhorst
“After years of government failures, an angry Congress confronted the federal bureaucracy. The much-criticized bureaucracy used archaic technology and was badly behind on its business. Many employees didn’t even bother to show up to work in person. Congress and the nation were ready for a thorough overhaul of the executive branch. The year was 1887. Just as the late Gilded Age bureaucracy was failing to adapt to the industrial age, today’s bureaucracy is proving itself inadequate for the digital age. There is once again a push for fundamental reform, embodied today in Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Lawmakers who support DOGE should draw lessons from the 1880s, when congressional investigations helped drive reform by uncovering bureaucratic failure.” (02/18/25)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Nikolai G Wenzel
“For years, American reformers have idolized Canadian healthcare, touting it as the gold standard for universal care, and a model to replace an American system that is also broken. But the reality tells a starkly different story. In Canada, wait times are unmanageable, access to services is dwindling, and public trust is eroding. Recent data indicate that one in six Canadians lacks a regular family physician, and fewer than half can secure an appointment with a primary care provider within a day or two. This shortage has led to overwhelmed emergency rooms and significant delays in care. … As Americans reckon with record deficits and runaway government spending, some voices are once again touting the Canadian example as cheaper and more effective than the US system.” (02/17/25)
“Guess what? The Trump administration’s much-criticized strategy to get Western Europe to do more to defend itself is working. President Trump smiled in the Oval Office as Robert F. Kennedy Jr was sworn in as secretary of Health and Human Services. Yes, Europe’s leaders were miffed that President Trump had a one-on-one call with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week apparently without consulting them. And that he sent Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security adviser Mike Waltz and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff to to Saudi Arabia to discuss a possible deal to end the Ukraine war with their Russian counterparts — while not inviting them. Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told NATO members in Brussels, ‘Leaders of our European allies should take primary responsibility for defense of the continent.'” (02/17/25)
“Over the past decade, China has drifted away from its previous policy of free market reforms, toward a more statist economic model. Statism almost never works, and the recent Chinese experience is no exception. Now Bloomberg reports that China may be willing to move back toward a somewhat more market-oriented economic policy regime …. This is not just good news for China’s investors; it’s also good for the broader Chinese public, and indeed for the entire world.” (02/17/25)
