“In his stumbling explanation of the muddled autopsy report on the 2024 election debacle, Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin uttered two pieces of wisdom that regrettably, neither he nor the party has heeded: ‘The Democratic brand is in trouble and needs repair’ and ‘I agree with folks who have said we have to learn from the past to win the future.’ Had they followed that advice, they would have seen how history tells a neglected and important story. It begins when Bill Clinton was handed the keys to the White House by a group of largely Southern officials who formed the New Democrats with the mission of putting a Southern, pro-business candidate in the White House. With its pointed references to Reagan speeches and policies, Clinton’s Second Inaugural signaled a devil’s bargain that ended a century of Democratic Party policies.” (05/28/26)
Source: Niskanen Center
by Erich Battistin, Richard Hahn, Samantha Pérez-Dávila, & Borui Sun
“Washington, D.C., offers a rare opportunity to study how police departments throughout the country might, and in fact must, do more with less. Since reaching a dramatic peak in 2023, violent and property crime in the District has fallen sharply — even as the police force shrank to its smallest size in half a century. This essay draws on Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) crime and arrest data, officer deployment records, and independent data sources to explain the role police management played in that paradox and extract lessons for American cities facing similar constraints.” (05/28/26)
Source: Bluegrass Institute
by Caleb O Brown, Liam Sigaud, & Edgar Orozco
“Indiana and Ohio didn’t fall apart when they pared back certificate of need programs. Their patients ended up with more choices and shorter drives.” (05/28/26)
“AI enables Americans to navigate the legal system without attorneys, operationalizing the right to self-representation and expanding access to justice on an unprecedented scale. Can courts cope?” (05/28/26)
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen
“The increasing arc of instability running across Africa today resembles less a series of isolated crises than a single, widening belt of state collapse, insurgency, proxy war, and foreign intervention stretching from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea. From Mali and Niger to Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the same themes recur with grim consistency: weak post-colonial states, ethnic and religious fragmentation, weapons flows across porous borders, foreign meddling, and Washington repeatedly insisting it can manage extraordinarily complex societies with bombs, military trainers, intelligence partnerships, and favored clients. It cannot.” (05/28/26)
‘The strength and reliability of a government’s word is a critical factor in its ability to make the deals and exert the leverage which allow it to pursue an agenda at home and abroad. By altering expectations of the future, both the government and opposition can affect how much credibility the government has. This opens several options for undermining the current regime, but also carries danger for the next Democratic president. In the here and now, I see no reason to avoid using our advantage.” (05/28/26)
“There are many ways in which we can make it easier for families to care for members needing social care by giving support at home instead of in care homes. Practical support measures might include direct payments and personal budgets. We could give families control over a care budget that lets them hire flexible, personalized support, such as a known carer for specific hours, rather than fitting into rigid council-commissioned services. Technology can help with smart home adaptations such as telecare alarms, medication dispensers, fall sensors, and voice-activated devices to extend independence and safety at home, reducing the need for round-the-clock supervision.” (05/28/26)
“Joe Biden’s elaborate game of hide-and-seek over his suspected theft of highly classified government documents may finally be coming to an end. The Department of Justice announced, ‘Ready or not, here I come!’ So, the former president scampered to a federal court on Tuesday, begging for protection to prevent the public release of audio recordings and transcripts in which he is known to have incriminated himself. Asking a judge to effectively cover up evidence of crimes — whether charged or not — is a fanciful proposition. The recordings were obtained lawfully in 2023 by then-special counsel Robert Hur. Hence, Biden can no longer legitimately claim a Fourth Amendment privacy interest in them. Once they entered the public and prosecutorial domain, they were stripped of privacy protections.” (05/27/26)
Source: Independent Institute
by K Lloyd Billingsley
“Candidates for Congress, governor, and various state offices promise to make California affordable again, build new housing, fight the ‘special interests,’ and so forth. Missing in the rhetoric are the powerful agencies that operate beyond the reach of the voters. Consider, for example, the California Air Resources Board.” (05/28/26)
“There’s a common trope among people who have collateralized debt that, until the debt is cleared, they never truly own their property. For example, the bank holds the mortgage, and if mortgage payments aren’t made, the bank can seize the house. The trope says that the ‘pay to stay’ nature of the loan means the bank truly owns the house, not the person who purchased it using their mortgage. Despite how common this trope is, it is incorrect. It fundamentally misunderstands the legal nature of ownership.” (05/28/26)
