Source: Law & Liberty
by Christopher James Wolfe
“By returning to old books on the subject, we discover that arguments about the original meaning of Article II have not changed very much in 100 years. The much stronger argument in favor of a unitary executive is finally being made by justices in the majority other than Chief Justice Taft.” (08/12/26)
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Angelo Monaco
“A foundational premise of libertarian theory is straightforward: meaningful fiscal restraint is impossible while maintaining a global empire. For decades, federal budgets have bloated under the weight of an expansive foreign policy that treats the American military not as a lean, defensive shield for domestic soil, but as a global guarantor of foreign security. Because overseas deployments, foreign bases, and entangling alliances account for a massive portion of discretionary federal outlays, any serious effort to slash government spending, eliminate deficit-funded inflation, and reduce the tax burden on individual citizens must start at the water’s edge. True fiscal responsibility requires dismantling the garrison state, abandoning the pretense of global policing, and bringing American military forces back entirely within our own borders. From this perspective, America’s commitment to NATO functions as a massive, continuous transfer of assets seized from U.S. taxpayers to foreign governments.” (08/12/26)
Source: The Dispatch
by Mike Nelson
“Military service alone doesn’t qualify anyone for office—nor excuse misconduct.” (08/12/26)
https://thedispatch.com/article/veteran-war-politician-platner-kerry/
Source: New York Post
by Rich Lowry
“The United States of America may be the greatest place for functionally illiterate people to live in all of human history. An eye-popping column in The Financial Times the other day noted how people in the United States with very low literacy make about as much per hour as the average worker in Great Britain. Is this the result of brilliant public policy, carefully crafted to boost the prospects of those on the margins? No, it’s a byproduct of the vast, endlessly dynamic wealth-generating machine that is the American economy. The Financial Times also compared cohorts of low-literacy workers in the US and the UK: ‘The same proportion of US workers who score stunningly low on literacy earn an average of almost $30 per hour, and two-thirds of them are in work. Their British counterparts make the equivalent of $20 and fewer than half are employed.'” (08/11/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/08/11/opinion/miracle-us-economy-zooms-ahead-so-dsa-haters-resort-to-lies/
Source: The American Conservative
by Andrew Day
“Time to face an uncomfortable truth: America lost the Iran War. It’s a development not only discomfiting but world-historical, marking the pitiful conclusion of American primacy and the ‘U.S.-led international order.’ President Donald Trump is in a bind. Escalating the war in hopes of changing the outcome would worsen its deleterious effects and almost certainly fail to force Iranian capitulation. But reaching a peace agreement is difficult, thanks to a near-total absence of Iranian trust in any commitments that Trump might make. The solution to Trump’s predicament, I’ve come to believe, can be found in an unlikely source: a little-discussed work of political psychology published more than a half century ago.” (08/12/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/how-trump-can-break-the-iran-logjam/
Source: Reason
by Tosin Akintola
“At first glance, a new mother taking part in a drug screening seems reasonable. For the sake of the mother and child, a doctor performs a clinical test to rule out any complications or signs of risks to the newborn. But the story quickly takes a dark turn. If there’s a positive test result, it doesn’t stay between the doctor and the patient. In 24 states and Washington, D.C., a positive test alone is enough to initiate a child welfare report, according to a report by the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association. Depending on the state, that test could land the mother on a child abuse registry. Worse still, the mother may be notified the test has occurred only after the fact.” (08/11/26)
https://reason.com/2026/08/11/the-war-on-drugs-has-come-to-the-maternity-ward/
Source: Independent Institute
by Christopher J Calton
“Last month, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) suspended funding to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), which quickly sued to block the decision. The controversy raises an important question: to what extent are local bureaucracies entitled to federal funds?” (08/11/26)
Source: The American Prospect
by Ryan Cooper
“In one of America’s daily political subplots that would have been rejected from a pre-2025 Armando Iannucci script for being too silly, it turns out Donald Trump was recently smuggled out of Air Force One in a catering container for fear of being assassinated by Iran. He was visiting Turkey last month, and apparently intelligence came in warning of an Iranian threat. Trump had already forgone his Qatari bribe jet, which has not yet been outfitted with the usual security systems, and so was traveling on the old presidential 747. It seems he was too frightened to use that plane as well, so he boarded by the normal door in sight of the cameras, then was quickly bundled out the side entrance onto a catering truck and into a military jet.” (08/12/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/08/12/aftermath-donald-trump-invented-new-forever-war/
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
“Colorado has been labeled as ‘increasingly blue’ for several decades. Not just the most recent governors (Hickenlooper and Polis) have been extremely liberal and left (‘Regressives’ as TPOL labels them), but the General Assembly (both houses) has had super-majority Democratic control for a long time as well. (Yes, the Colorado GOP is as much to blame for this, due to their own stupidity and lack of skills and internal cohesion, as the Colorado Democrats are. And don’t get us started on the worthlessness of the Colorado Libertarian Party.)” (08/11/26)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2026/08/11/colorado-sinking-fast/
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey
“Most Americans have never heard of the Jones Act, which is a protectionist law that has been on the books for over 100 years with the intent to protect U.S. based shipping and shipbuilding, put in place after World War I. As with many U.S. laws, it has backfired on the American people and business, with higher costs to consumers for their goods and energy. I argue that government should just get out of the way and let the free market run, which benefits both consumers and business. Now, the Trump administration has extended its 90-day waiver of the Jones Act, allowing foreign-flagged shipping vessels to transport fuel and energy commodities between U.S. ports (The Hindu). This 90-day waiver exposes the reality that the Jones Act helps to lower energy costs for Americans and helps to prevent economic bottlenecks, confirming my assertion to let the free market run.” (08/11/26)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/the-jones-act-trap-why-temporary