Source: Fox News
by Newt Gingrich

“Despite all the current polling and the constant comments of the professional analyst class, the Democrats have the biggest problems going into the 2026 election. People know they have unpopular values. Their big government socialist models of taxing, spending and bureaucracy don’t work. The Democrats’ key institutions have long histories of performance failure. And the dominance of the hard left in the Democratic Party forces Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries into painfully tone-deaf positions. It all represents a huge burden, weakening the likelihood of a major Democratic victory this fall. Consider some of the burdens the Democrats will be carrying as they campaign this summer and fall.” (03/30/26)

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/newt-gingrich-democrats-could-get-alarming-wake-up-call-2026-election

Source: The American Conservative
by Ted Galen Carpenter

“Since the end of World War II, the United States has built an ever-expanding global network of military allies. The term ‘ally’ may legitimately apply to Britain, France, Japan, Germany, and a few of Washington’s other security partners, but most of the so-called allies are merely small U.S. security dependents. They constitute potential burdens and dangerous geopolitical snares for the United States while providing few if any strategic benefits. An especially worrisome aspect of these relationships is that such clients spend considerable effort trying to manipulate, even pervert, U.S. policy to support their parochial objectives. That dynamic creates the danger of small clients gaining undue influence over Washington’s behavior. A security client tail thus may succeed in wagging the U.S. dog.” (03/29/26)

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/client-tails-wag-the-u-s-dog/

Source: Paul Krugman

“Why the U.S. is the ‘last big petrostate’ and why that’s bad for everyone.” (03/29/26)

https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/is-america-suffering-from-the-resource

Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Deborah Palma

“In the mid-19th century, the town of Peoria, Illinois, originally established as a French outpost in the 18th century, underwent a period of rapid expansion. Although not a newly founded settlement, its transformation during this period reflects a broader pattern seen across the American frontier. Within a few decades, it evolved into a regional agricultural and commercial hub. This was not the result of luck or central planning. The decisive factor was clear, recognized, and transferable property titles. Farmers knew that the land they cultivated belonged to them. Merchants felt secure investing in warehouses, mills, and river transportation. Families built homes with the expectation that their children would inherit the fruits of that effort. Where property was clearly defined, the future made sense.” (03/29/26)

https://fee.org/articles/how-clear-property-rights-built-the-american-frontier/

Source: Washington Post
by Megan McArdle

“Economist John Maynard Keynes once remarked, ‘Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.’ The wry commentary eventually curdled into ironic prophecy, as Keynes became one of those defunct economists. His prescription for countercyclical stimulus mutated into a belief that government spending was a kind of perpetual motion machine: Since spending creates jobs and jobs create spending, you could fuel an increasingly virtuous cycle with ever-expanding outlays. This garble led to unnecessary stimulus during post-pandemic recovery and then some unnecessary inflation. Alas, this is common in public policy fights. Expert debates grounded in the conditions of a particular time get filed down to sound bites in media reports. Years later, half-remembered versions inspire policies that are at best inappropriate to the current moment and, at worst, counterproductive.” (03/29/26)

https://archive.is/ckww9