Capital Record, episode 317
Source: National Review
“Discovered, Not Imposed: Bond Yields and Government Intervention.” (08/25/26)
A MAGA plot to keep power in Congress if they lose the election?
Source: The Hill
by James D Zirin
“Democrats are widely expected to win control of the House in November’s election. The Senate remains a tossup. But there is a nagging suspicion that Trump will somehow pervert the will of the people to ensure that Republicans retain their majority in the House and somehow steal the election. … Trump will delegitimize eligible voters. He will scare them away from the polls by posting federal agents at their voting places or discouraging them by disparaging mail-in ballots. But here’s the crusher: If the outcome is close, his minions can refuse to seat elected Democrats by reason of a yawning loophole in how congressional elections are administered.” (08/25/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/6047610-house-election-loophole-risk/
The madness of Trump’s Canada trade war
Source: UnHerd
by Michael Lind
“The greatest threat today to American manufacturing and global exports comes from China. The People’s Republic has far surpassed the United States in industrial output and competes with Washington in a Cold War II spanning many fronts, including trade, technology, military development, and proxy wars in Ukraine and elsewhere. And that’s not to mention a new superpower space race. Why, then, is the Trump administration appeasing China on trade, while picking fights with countries like Canada that are friends and allies of the United States?” [editor’s note: The greatest threat today — as always — to American manufacturing and global exports comes from the US government. Anything other than complete unilateral free trade is a blow to America prosperity – TLK] (08/25/26)
Senile Reality TV Star Floats Renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America”
Source: US News & World Report
“President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he is considering changing the name of Lake Ontario to ‘Lake America’ as the trade war between the United States and Canada intensifies. Such a change would be reminiscent of the Republican president’s unilateral action last year by executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. The United States and Canada are locked in a trade dispute, with Canada expected to announce retaliatory measures Tuesday. That’s in response to the Trump administration enacting 50% tariffs on $20 billion of Canadian goods over the weekend after talks between the countries broke down. ‘The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to doing much business with Ontario any longer,’ Trump said Tuesday on social media.” (08/25/26)
The Dispatch Podcast, 08/25/26
Source: The Dispatch
“How The U.S. Racked Up Its $40 Trillion Debt.” (08/25/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/dispatch-podcast/how-the-u-s-racked-up-its-40-trillion-debt/
Ted Cruz Is an Opportunistic Chameleon
Source: The American Conservative
by Jack Hunter
“Today, loudly and proudly, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) is a staunch supporter of the Iran War, the state of Israel, and U.S.-led regime change in other countries; he is outspoken against what he sees as rising antisemitism in America, particularly on the right. When he opposed a potential U.S.–Iran peace deal in June, the Washington Examiner reported that ‘Cruz, considered a possible 2028 presidential candidate’ was ‘positioning himself as more hawkish than the White House.’ … Cruz is now clearly aiming to be the most pro-war, pro-Israel, and thoroughly neoconservative Republican presidential candidate. A decade ago, he was aiming to be something else.” (08/25/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/ted-cruz-is-an-opportunistic-chameleon/
America Can’t Outgrow $40 Trillion in Debt
Source: The Daily Economy
by Peter C Earle
“Stabilizing the federal debt through growth alone would require 7.3 percent annual real GDP growth. Nothing in our history suggests that’s remotely plausible.” (08/25/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/america-cant-outgrow-40-trillion-in-debt/
Report: CIA Director John Ratcliffe secretly traveled to Russia, as mystery swirls over military flight landing in Moscow
Source: New York Post
“CIA Director John Ratcliffe is visiting Moscow Tuesday, according to reports — after a mysterious military flight landed in the Russian capital. Ratcliffe arrived aboard a C-17 transport plane that departed Joint Base Andrews, a base outside Washington used for high-ranking official travel. The plane stopped in Latvia en route to Moscow, with the Pentagon and White House initially declining to comment on who was aboard. CBS News and Axios reported that it was Ratcliffe who made the trip.” (08/25/26)
The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 08/25/26
Source: The New Republic
“Krugman: Trump Just Revealed Extraordinary Contempt for MAGA Voters.” (08/25/26)
Turns out having nukes provided the US very little leverage
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Sina Azodi
“For decades, the United States treated the prospect of an Iranian nuclear weapon as an intolerable threat. Yet when Washington and Tehran went to war twice in roughly a year, America’s own nuclear arsenal provided remarkably little leverage. … In neither war did America’s overwhelming nuclear superiority prevent Iranian retaliation or compel Tehran to capitulate. The paradox is striking: the weapon the U.S. had long insisted Iran must never possess proved largely incapable of shaping Tehran’s calculations, or determining the course of a war of choice that has consumed Trump’s presidency.” (08/25/26)