Source: Reason
by Katherine Mangu-Ward

“The presence of federal law enforcement can drive crime down, at least in the short term. In neighborhoods
where the Guard and federal police have flooded in, carjackings, assaults, and homicides dropped. Polls show that many citizens, tired of theft and violence, welcome the uniforms. To dismiss that desire for order as illegitimate is unserious. People want to be safe, or at least feel safer. And it’s popular. An August Associated Press-NORC poll found that 81 percent of respondents view crime as a ‘major problem’ in America’s large cities, while 66 percent view it as a ‘major problem’ nationwide. A full 82 percent of Republicans, and 55 percent of respondents overall, consider it ‘completely or somewhat acceptable’ for the military and National Guard to assist local police. But a military occupation of American cities is neither constitutionally sound nor fiscally viable.” (for publication 11/25)

https://reason.com/2025/10/01/cheetos-in-the-capital/

Source: Center on Budget & Policy Priorities
by Sharon Parrott

“Wednesday’s government funding shutdown is fundamentally different than prior funding fights because the administration is acting outside the law. Any funding agreement must put a stop to this pattern of lawlessness. I have long opposed shutdowns and debt limit brinkmanship, but the administration’s actions will harm people, the economy, and our democracy for years to come if they are not stopped. Make no mistake, shutdowns hurt people. The federal government provides a wide range of critical public services. And the president has even implied that he will use a shutdown to impose harsher consequences than required by law, threatening to fire many federal workers and cut benefits for large numbers of people.” [editor’s note: Nothing illegal about a chief executive trimming the Executive Branch; just nobody who wanted to before – SAT] [editor’s note: Incorrect. The president’s job is to follow Congress’s instructions – TLK] (10/01/25)

https://www.cbpp.org/press/statements/congress-must-block-administrations-illegal-cuts-protect-affordable-health-care

Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Connor O’Keeffe

“McCabe’s lawyers claim that, when McCabe leaked classified information to a Wall Street Journal reporter related to that investigation, it was done with Comey’s knowledge. So the central questions in this case are whether McCabe is telling the truth and, if so, whether Comey’s allowing a subordinate to carry out leaks is legally equivalent to authorizing them. Trump’s critics are trying to paper over those details and instead depict this indictment as simply a norm-shattering case of a president weaponizing the Justice Department to go after innocent people just because he doesn’t personally like them. … However, it’s better to understand this indictment as the latest chapter in a long struggle within the American federal government between elected and unelected officials.” (10/01/25)

https://mises.org/mises-wire/trump-comey-and-long-history-unelected-government

Source: American Greatness
by Edward Ring

“For every conservative in America who is delighted that at least some of the purveyors of hate speech and misinformation on the woke left are at last being held accountable, there is another who still adheres to the ideals of free speech. As UFC CEO Dana White recently said on 60 Minutes, ‘Probably the most important speech to protect is hate speech.’ That diversity of opinion never surfaced among the left, however, over the nearly ten years during which alleged misinformation and hate speech were suppressed whenever they originated from conservatives.” [editor’s note: Does Mr. Ring have poor memory, a vivid imagination, or both? – TLK] (10/01/25)

https://amgreatness.com/2025/10/01/ten-years-of-censorship-that-was-censored/

Source: Niskanen Center
by Kerri Raissian & Jennifer Necci Dineen

“Insurance companies may be in a unique position to mitigate firearm-related deaths, injuries, and other harms in the United States. Insurers have played a prominent role in helping reduce injury and death in at least two other significant areas: automotive accidents and swimming pool drownings. In those cases, insurance firms were able to make meaningful societal change simply by compelling their customers to wear seatbelts and put fences around their pools. Firearms may be more difficult for insurance companies to detect than automobiles or swimming pools.” (10/01/25)

https://www.niskanencenter.org/insurance-as-a-potential-tool-to-reduce-firearm-related-harms