Source: The Daily Economy
by David Rose
“Tariff increases might make good political sense, but they are bad economic policy. Only addressing entitlements can save us.” (12/19/24)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/protectionism-wont-save-us-from-budgetary-disaster/
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Katrina Gulliver & Daphne Posadas
“We highlight this year’s decisive moments from across the globe.” (12/19/24)
Source: Independent Institute
by Kristian Fors
“Before the California DMV’s recent transformation, the department was a mess. Wait times were beyond reasonable, with some customers standing in line for five to six hours. Nearly one-third of DMV employees did not show up for work on time. One employee slept on the job for years with no disciplinary action. In 2018, the DMV mismanaged 23,000 voter registrations. In the same year, the Department of Homeland Security revealed that the DMV failed to properly comply with federal REAL ID regulations when it issued nearly 2.5 million REAL IDs. … In July 2019, Steve Gordon was selected to be the new director of the DMV, an individual with an extensive background in technology and the private sector. A recent Stanford case study of Gordon’s leadership has highlighted the many ways he has been able to streamline DMV’s operations during his tenure.” (12/19/24)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“New York prosecutors have charged Luigi Mangione with ‘murder as an act of terrorism’ in his alleged shooting of health insurance CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month. This news comes out at the same time as a Haaretz report titled ‘No Civilians. Everyone’s a Terrorist: IDF Soldiers Expose Arbitrary Killings and Rampant Lawlessness in Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor.’ The report contains testimony from Israeli troops that civilians are being murdered in Gaza and are then being retroactively designated as terrorists to justify heir execution. ‘We’re killing civilians there who are then counted as terrorists,’ a recently discharged officer told Haaretz. These two stories together say so much about the way the label ‘terrorist’ is used under the US-centralized power umbrella. The guy who shot the health insurance CEO is a terrorist, but the people systematically slaughtering civilians in Gaza are not terrorists.” (12/19/24)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2024/12/19/where-does-the-aggression-really-begin/
Source: The Bulwark
by Jonathan V Last
“The internet was supposed to spread information and elevate our understanding of the world. Instead it turned us into a primitive people, reliant on folk stories.” (12/19/24)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“Before he even takes office, President-elect Trump has buckled to the CIA and its supporters in the U.S. Senate. Trump intended to appoint Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, who is married to the son of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., as deputy director of the CIA. Given opposition among CIA supporters in the U.S. Senate, however, Trump has buckled and is withdrawing Fox Kennedy’s name from consideration. But wait a minute! The office of deputy director of the CIA doesn’t require Senate confirmation. Trump has the authority to follow through with his plan and appoint Fox Kennedy to the post regardless of what any member of the U.S. Senate — or, for that matter, any member of the CIA — says.” (12/19/24)
https://www.fff.org/2024/12/19/why-did-trump-buckle-with-cia-appointment/
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Thomas Eddlem
“Most political differences in America today aren’t a result of moral differences, or even policy opinions. Rather, they are generated by divergent media consumption. There’s a huge difference between those whose news comes primarily from the corporate Big Five (CBS-Viacom, ABC-Disney, NBC-Universal, Fox-NewsCorp, and CNN-TimeWarner) and that handful of midsize legacy publications like PBS, The New York Times and Washington Post, than from those who get their news from independent media. While the independent media can be inaccurate, it’s often when they contradict themselves. On the other hand, when the Big Five and its satellites are inaccurate, it’s typically in union, as a bloc, and always in defense of the Washington establishment.” (12/19/24)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/how-the-captive-media-divides-us
Source: The UnPopulist
by Thomas Zimmer
“The speed with which the right has, in just a few short years, entirely abandoned its supposedly principled commitment to curbing the power of the state in general and presidential Caesarism in particular is remarkable. During the Obama years, Republicans insisted that they had a constitutional obligation to oppose the White House’s dictatorial overreach. The Tea Party craze saw Republicans casting themselves as defenders of the Founders’ vision of small, responsible, unobtrusive government. The animating conservative concern — rhetorically if not often substantively — was government restraint to guarantee individual liberty: keeping the Nanny State out of people’s lives and insisting on government non-interference in business. Now, the same movement that derided Obama as a lawless tyrant every time he considered exerting power via a presidential executive order is urging President-elect Donald Trump to upend the system with precisely that instrument.” (12/19/24)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/trumps-budget-director-pick-would
Source: TomDispatch
by Karen Greenberg
“Post-election America finds itself in a panic. Voices from across a wide political spectrum warn that the country stands on the precipice of a potentially unprecedented and chaotic disregard for the laws, norms, and policies upon which its stability and security have traditionally relied. Some fear that the ‘new’ president, Donald Trump, is likely to declare a national emergency and invoke the Insurrection Act, unleashing the U.S. military for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants and for ‘retribution against’ the ‘enemy from within’ as well as ‘radical left lunatics’. As the New Republic‘s editor Michael Tomasky notes, writing about the nomination of Kash Patel for the post of director of the FBI, ‘We’re entering a world where the rule of law is turned inside out.’ ” (12/19/24)
Source: Aaron Ross Powell
by Aaron Ross Powell
“It’s impossible to build a search engine that isn’t biased and doesn’t manipulate results. But it is possible to convince conservatives you can.” (12/19/24)
https://www.aaronrosspowell.com/p/the-illusion-of-unbiased-search-why-freespoke-s-promise-falls-flat