Source: Washington Monthly
by Bill Scher

“Elon Musk’s still-hypothetical third party could become reality because, as I discussed yesterday, combining historically high debt levels with an economic downturn could stoke public frustration with both parties. We saw this in 1992 when independent billionaire Ross Perot exploited rising debt to garner nearly 20 percent of the presidential popular vote. But it’s not a given that a large faction of voters will blame both parties for today’s rising debt. With nearly every Republican in federal office having voted for the red-ink-laden budget reconciliation bill, Democrats have a political opportunity to exploit.” (07/10/25)

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2025/07/10/democrats-should-prepare-for-the-return-of-debt-politics/

Source: Persuasion
by Anne Kadet

“If robots can replace human connection, you need better friends.” (07/10/25)

https://www.persuasion.community/p/what-i-learned-from-my-new-ai-friend

Source: Truthdig
by Bill Blum

“Just how bad is the Supreme Court’s June 27 decision on birthright citizenship? Among progressive and liberal commentators, the thinking is surprisingly mixed. Some assert that Trump v. CASA ‘couldn’t be more disastrous’ and will leave the Trump administration with ‘blood on its hands’; others see ‘silver linings’ in the ruling. The reason for the diverse reactions is simple: The 6-3 majority decision written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett didn’t address the underlying issue in the case—the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment for the children of undocumented immigrants. Instead, Barrett and the conservative majority produced a complicated and confusing procedural ruling that leaves the executive order in legal limbo, intact for now but subject to further litigation.” (07/10/25)

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/supreme-court-birthright-citizenship

Source: The Intercept

“The private prison industry saw its influence wane under Joe Biden, but it remains dominant in the business of immigration detention. So when President Donald Trump signed the so-called ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ on July 4, dedicating $45 billion to immigration detention with a goal to double or triple the population behind bars, it was a huge payoff. The victory was in the works for years. A private prison company handed consulting and lobbying gigs to Trump’s allies, its political action committee was the first to max out its donation to Trump, and industry executives had already made plans to reopen shuttered prisons — laying the groundwork for what they promised investors would be an incarceration bonanza.” (07/10/25)

https://theintercept.com/2025/07/10/corecivic-trump-big-beautiful-bill/

Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Marcos Falcone

“Earlier this year, left-wing Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum hosted a rally in downtown Mexico City to celebrate Donald Trump’s one-month delay in imposing 25% tariffs on her country. To Latin American observers, this was baffling and not just because the victory was meager, but because since when does the left embrace free trade? Yet Sheinbaum’s stance ever since, alongside prior remarks by her predecessor Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), show that there is a way of committing the Latin American left to free trade: by embracing it in the first place.” (07/10/25)

https://fee.org/articles/how-the-mexican-left-embraced-free-trade/