“When many teachers in Richland Parish, Louisiana, opened this year’s annual bonus checks, they found them 400 percent larger than last year — reaching up to $50,000, nearly a full year’s pay in one of the poorest corners of one of America’s poorest states. The bulk of the money came from the tax revenue of a single source: the five-gigawatt data center that Meta is building in Richland Parish. … Most Americans haven’t heard that story. What they have heard instead is that data centers will guzzle their water and spike their power bills — and our politics now reflect that. … AI supporters are losing the argument not because the facts aren’t on their side, but because they keep reaching for the wrong facts — gigawatts, capital expenditure, the race with China — in making their case. Here are three rules for AI companies, and the policymakers who support them, to win the argument that follows.” (09/02/26)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Connor O’Keeffe
“The rising popularity of politicians on the American left who either explicitly identify as socialist or, at least, don’t shy away from or disavow the term appears to be causing genuine concern within the Washington establishment. That is, of course, entirely justified. Socialism is profoundly unjust and destructive. … However, the concern we’re seeing from the neoliberal and neoconservative establishment is frustrating. Because the political order that they have built and preserved over the last half century has made the growing popularity of this kind of ‘democratic socialism’ all but inevitable.” (09/02/26)
“I have a question about the critical Michigan Senate race: Are centrist Democratic officials and pundits going to spend the next 60 days loudly making the Republican Party’s arguments for them? The last week has seen a meltdown over Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee. The controversy involves the Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who is not an elected official, or a candidate for anything, or a member of El-Sayed’s campaign, but did appear with him during the primary at a few events. Piker made some comments on a Twitch stream (more on that in a moment) that provided a convenient pretext for Republicans to whip up a frenzy of anti-Muslim bigotry and smear El-Sayed by association. Most Democrats did not join in, but many did, including some in leadership positions.” (09/02/26)
“By unilaterally razing and replacing the East Wing, the president again shows his disregard for the rule of law and the separation of powers.” (09/02/26)
“Yoav Segalovitz, a Zionist politician from a centrist Jewish party, shook up Israeli politics on Monday. He announced he would run in the Oct. 27 parliamentary elections as a top-tier candidate with Ra’am, a party representing Israel’s large Arab population. His surprise leap across a deep social divide could help Ra’am win enough seats in the Knesset to influence who becomes the next prime minister, possibly shifting Israel’s role in the Middle East. A recent poll showed that more than half of voters who oppose the current government would support including Ra’am with Mr. Segalovitz in a possible coalition. While such political leverage remains to be seen, it was Mr. Segalovitz’s reasons for joining Ra’am – an abbreviation for United Arab List – that also caught much of the public’s attention.” (09/01/26)
“Do you remember over the course of the 2016, 2020, and 2024 presidential elections when Donald Trump and his ‘Make America Great Again’ movement promised to launch the United States into yet another Middle Eastern war, this time with Iran? No? No one does. Because it didn’t happen. ‘When I’m back in the White House, we will expel the warmongers, the profiteers, and take over our government and we will restore world peace,’ Trump said during a National Guard Association speech in August 2024 to cheers and applause.” [editor’s note: And everyone who cared one way or another about honesty knew he was a lying sack of crap long before he got elected the first time, let alone the second. He didn’t fool anyone; they fooled themselves, and have only themselves to blame – TLK] (09/02/26)
“The $40 trillion debt point naturally prompted much griping among pundits, many of whom see their job as promoting hysteria in order to justify cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and other popular social programs. As is clear to anyone not on the payroll of the rich and very rich [or, you know, familiar with basic economics – TLK], the debt is overwhelmingly the result of tax cuts, mostly to high earners, put in place by Presidents Reagan, Bush II, and Trump. Unfortunately, confusion on the debt can spread even among the sane.” (09/02/26)
“The Democratic Socialists of America are proving an old principle of politics: You can win a lot of votes by promising ‘free stuff’ — and not worrying if you could possibly deliver. Analyst Adam Michel of the free-market Cato Institute just tallied up the DSA’s agenda, and guess what: ‘The entire wealth of the richest Americans, plus every dollar of corporate profit and maximum top income tax rates’ fails to pay for the socialist program. The DSA vows to provide universal health care (cost to the government: $29.9 trillion to $75.4 trillion over the next decade), slavery reparations ($13.5 trillion to $28 trillion), jobs guarantees ($4.4 trillion to $60.4 trillion), housing for all ($3.4 trillion to $16.6 trillion) and several other big-ticket goodies. The mind-blowing total: $71.2 trillion to $211.6 trillion, spiking federal spending to 57% of GDP on the low end, and 92% on the high end.” (09/01/26)
“Amid public discontent and warnings from Pentagon leaders that the Iran War undermines military readiness, President Donald Trump has settled on a new strategy: lower the temperature on military hostilities and focus instead on strangling Iran’s economy. Middle East experts told The American Conservative that this approach won’t fundamentally change Tehran’s own military strategy, at least not in ways congenial to American interests. Moreover, in practice it is leading to skirmishes centered around the Strait of Hormuz, where the U.S. aims to blockade Iranian ports while securing free transit for allied countries. Meanwhile, ordinary Iranians face dire threats to their livelihoods, as revealed by first-hand testimonies shared with TAC.” (09/02/26)
