Source: Foreign Policy
by Kori Schake

“The Trump administration’s National Security Strategy isn’t a strategy. Despite its pedantic condescension of explaining that ‘a ‘strategy’ is a concrete, realistic plan that explains the essential connection between ends and means,’ the document, released on Dec. 5, fails to meet that standard itself. This ‘strategy’ is instead a statement of values. And those values are vandalism against the very things that have made the United States of America strong, safe, and prosperous.” (12/08/25)

https://archive.is/AW4mb

Source: Niskanen Center
by Neil Miller

“The federal government spends $750 billion annually on contracts with private businesses. A lot of contracts start with a solicitation, which asks vendors to explain how they would complete the contract and why the government should hire them. Solicitations are a roadmap, so if too many billion-dollar contracts don’t get us where we want to go, part of the problem is solicitations that send us down the wrong path.” (12/08/25)

https://www.niskanencenter.org/spotting-concrete-boats-why-solicitation-sins-doom-contracts-to-struggle-part-1

Source: Independent Institute
by Allen Gindler

“In late October, the Federal Reserve adjusted its target interest rate downward. The decision was reached with some dissent, showing a divergence of economic perspectives among the Federal Reserve’s members. Soon afterward, some Fed officials voiced divergent views about what to do in December. Due to the recent government shutdown, key economic data, including inflation reports, unemployment statistics, and GDP growth numbers, were delayed or canceled, thereby complicating the Federal Reserve’s ability to make informed decisions based on comprehensive data. However, even if the Fed had all the necessary data, it would once again face a fundamental problem: the same twelve people, examining lagging data, are expected to set a rate of short-term credit that affects borrowing costs for the entire economy.” (12/08/25)

https://www.independent.org/article/2025/12/08/twelve-votes-vs-the-market/

Source: Rutherford Institute
by John & Nisha Whitehead

“We now live in a nation where constitutional rights exist in theory, not in practice. Yet what good are rights on paper when every branch of government is allowed to ignore, circumvent, chip away at or hollow them out in practice? Two hundred and thirty-four years after the ratification of the Bill of Rights on December 15, 1791, the safeguards meant to shield ‘We the people’ from government abuse are barely recognizable. In ways the Founders could scarcely have imagined — and would never have tolerated — the safeguards meant to restrain government overreach have become little more than empty platitudes.” (12/08/25)

https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/government_unchained_the_year_the_constitution_lost_its_guardrails