Trump Watch, 04/14/26
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“Annihilating People with Sanctions, Embargoes, and Blockades.” (04/14/26)
What the Economic Report of the President Gets Wrong and Right About Housing Supply
Source: Cato Institute
by Stephen Slivinski
“Yesterday, the President’s Council of Economic Advisers issued its annual Economic Report of the President. Like every year, it’s a wide-ranging analysis of several hot-button economic topics. While I can’t speak to the reliability of the analysis in every chapter, one thing that stands out is the chapter on housing supply. Like any policy document written by committee and expected to rationalize even the least justifiable policies of an administration, it doesn’t get everything right. Yet it doesn’t get everything wrong either.” (04/14/26)
https://www.cato.org/blog/what-economic-report-president-gets-wrong-right-about-housing-supply
Trump’s crusade against the Vatican
Source: spiked
by Georgina Mumford
“Trump is not the first president to fall out with the Holy Father. That said, this latest outburst is worlds away from the ‘elegant row’ between Theodore Roosevelt and Pope Pius during the Second World War, or the cordial scolding given to Bill Clinton by Pope John Paul over abortion legislation. Trump’s tantrum comes after months of tension between the White House and the Holy See – where, much to his dismay, religious officials have failed to don their MAGA hats and cheer on America’s war with Iran. … American Catholics – who comprise both 20 per cent of the US population and 22 per cent of those who cast their vote for Trump in 2024 – will no doubt be baffled by Trump’s attacks on the pontiff. Moreover, his AI-powered Jesus impersonation managed to upset even the most enthusiastic of evangelical MAGA loyalists.” (04/14/26)
Fifteen Bucks a Signature: The Crisis of Money in US Politics Is Growing
Source: The Nation
by Katrina Vanden Heuvel
“There’s money to be made in California this spring, no start-up pitch or buzzy screenplay required. Instead, signatures are one of the state’s most coveted commodities: Campaigns are paying $15 apiece to those willing to collect them. Petition distributors can thank Sergey Brin for this pay bump. In an effort to kill California’s proposed billionaire tax, the Google cofounder and other local tycoons are funding a political group that has hiked the going rate for signatures collected in support of countermeasures. In all, foes of the wealth tax are expected to spend $75 million in their attempt to quash the proposal.” (04/14/26)
Hezbollah official says the group won’t abide by any agreements from Lebanon-Israel talks in the US
Source: Associated Press
“The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah will not abide by any agreements that may result from the direct Lebanon-Israel talks in the United States, negotiations it firmly opposes, a senior Hezbollah official said Monday. Wafiq Safa, a high-ranking member of Hezbollah’s political council, spoke on the eve of the talks expected in Washington between Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the U.S. It will be the first time in decades that envoys from Lebanon and Israel, which do not have diplomatic relations, meet face-to-face in direct talks. ‘As for the outcomes of this negotiation between Lebanon and the Israeli enemy, we are not interested in or concerned with them at all,’ Safa told The Associated Press. ‘We are not bound by what they agree to,’ he added in a rare interview with international media.” (04/14/26)
https://apnews.com/article/hezbollah-lebanon-israel-wafiq-safa-a7af20b76ace9a34d8f641bca91e0b23
Evolution Explains the Human Condition
Source: Persuasion
by Steven Pinker
“In March 2026, three prominent thinkers died within a day of each other. Lavish obituaries immediately marked the deaths of the always-wrong environmentalist Paul Ehrlich and the often-obscure political philosopher Jürgen Habermas. But for two weeks after the death of Robert Trivers, one of the greatest evolutionary biologists since Charles Darwin, not a single major news source had noticed his passing. This despite Trivers’s singular accomplishment of showing how the endlessly fascinating complexities of human relations are grounded in the wellsprings of complex life. And despite the fact that the man’s life was itself an object of fascination. Trivers was no ordinary academic. He was privileged in upbringing but louche in lifestyle, personally endearing but at times obstreperous and irresponsible, otherworldly brilliant but forehead-slappingly foolish.” (04/14/26)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/the-strange-ways-people-actand-how
Matt Wolfson on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Matt Wolfson on Underappreciated Danger of the United Arab Emirates.” (04/14/26)
Douglass Rejected That Black Gratitude to Lincoln Required Jingoistic Praise
Source: The UnPopulist
by Jonathan Marks
“On the Emancipation Memorial’s 150th anniversary, Douglass’ oration needs rescuing from both left and right.” (04/14/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/douglass-rejected-that-black-gratitude
48-Hour Hold-Up
Source: The Pamphleteer
by Megan Podsiedlik
“Today [Tuesday], the Tennessee senate will weigh in on a bill requiring local law enforcement agencies participating in the 287(g) program to honor ICE detainers. Under the proposal, participating local law enfocement agencies would be required to hold individuals subject to an immigration detainer for up to 48 hours, giving federal officials time to assume custody. Lay of the Land According to Tennessee’s new Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division, only 49 of the state’s 95 counties now participate in the 287(g) program.” [editor’s note: “Detainers” shouldn’t be honored. If ICE wants someone, ICE should go to an actual judge and get an actual warrant – TLK] (04/13/26)
US Snail Union Launches Ad Campaign Promoting Mail Voting as Trump Assails the Method
Source: US News & World Report
“A major U.S. Postal Service union is launching a national TV ad campaign promoting voting by mail, stepping into a politically charged debate as skepticism about mail-in ballots has been raised by President Donald Trump and others. The 30-second message features a variety of voters, among them a busy farmer and a flight attendant, explaining why they cast their ballots by mail. Sponsored by the 200,000-member American Postal Workers Union, the advertising campaign announced Tuesday will begin airing this week in Ohio, where Union Army soldiers during the Civil War cast the first mail ballots in 1864. It will then move to other states.” (04/14/26)