Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
“Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in February as easing mortgage rates and more properties on the market encouraged home shoppers. Existing home sales rose 4.2% last month from January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.26 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. Sales fell 1.2% compared with February last year, ending a string of five straight annual increases. The latest home sales topped the 3.92 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet. On an unadjusted basis, sales fell 5.2% from February last year, when the month included an extra day because 2024 was a leap year.” (03/20/25)
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/03/20/home-sales/
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Jeb Smith
“Decentralization, or localism, is based first on the extended family or household; when grouped with other clans, this became a locality creating laws organically for the benefit of all. On the other hand, centralization occurs when forces far from these self-governing localities use their power and influence to impose their ways on other smaller localities. In such a situation, the former free individuals lose their self-governance and the option to choose from diverse ways of life, therefore becoming tools used to benefit those in power in distant lands under an increasingly conformist policy.” (03/20/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/one-majority-to-rule-them-all
Source: Common Dreams
by William E. Connolly
“At what junctures do Elon Musk and Donald Trump, each proceeding from a distinctive starting point, forge a new and hyper-dangerous coalition? Well, the Afrikaner refugee joins an extreme version of neoliberalism to a fascist drive to state takeover, and the fascist orange man, who demands unfettered state power and loves tariffs, nonetheless caters to neoliberal drives to concentrate wealth, income, and power even more extremely at the highest reaches of society. Together, they pursue what is best called oligopolistic fascism. What’s more, while both may have once believed the old Friedrich Hayek story of how market deregulation secures a robust economy of steady growth, each displays active signs today of no longer believing the very ideology he pedals [sic].” [editor’s note: Sometimes these pundits just write their own jokes – SAT] (03/20/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/fighting-trump-fascism
Source: Niskanen Center
“Our contentious universities, with Neil L. Rudenstine.” (03/20/25)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/our-contentious-universities-with-neil-l-rudenstine
Source: The Hill
“Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner said Wednesday he would resign from his post in an effort to resolve concerns from the Trump administration. … His decision to relinquish control over the national passenger railroad service of the United States comes as Elon Musk has suggested privatizing the service. … It’s unclear whether Trump will respond to Musk’s calls urging him to privatize the public service in an effort to reduce government spending.” (03/20/25)
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5204023-amtrak-ceo-resigns/
Source: Law & Liberty
by John Berlau
“One of the great threats to freedom in the United States today is what we at the Competitive Enterprise Institute call ‘Regulation Without Representation.’ Increasingly, laws are effectively made by unelected regulatory agencies in the administrative state instead of the people’s representatives in Congress. The phrase ‘regulation without representation’ also connotes the battle that George Washington and other American patriots fought against taxation without representation. But in researching my book George Washington, Entrepreneur, I found that ‘regulation without representation’ is more than just linguistically connected to the causes of the Revolutionary War. It was an actual grievance of the colonists that was almost as important as taxation in turning George Washington and other patriots against the rule of Great Britain.” (03/20/25)
https://lawliberty.org/a-revolution-against-regulation/
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has published an explicit statement of genocidal intent toward the people of Gaza, threatening civilians in the enclave with collective punishment in the form of ‘total devastation’ if they do not find a way to overthrow Hamas and free all Israeli hostages. … When Katz says ‘Take the advice of the US president,’ he is referring to a statement made by President Trump earlier this month which made essentially the same threat addressed ‘to the People of Gaza,’ saying, ‘A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD! Make a SMART decision. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW, OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER!'” (03/20/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/03/20/israel-makes-its-most-explicit-statement-of-genocidal-intent-yet/
Source: Libertarian Institute
“A Ceasefire Begins in Ukraine as War Returns to Gaza.” (03/20/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-772-a-ceasefire-begins-in-ukraine-as-war-returns-to-gaza
Source: CNBC
“The European Union will delay implementing its first set of tariffs on goods from the U.S. until the middle of April to allow for additional time for discussions with Washington, an EU spokesperson told CNBC Thursday. ‘The Commission has decided to align the timing of the two sets of EU countermeasures against U.S. 232 tariffs on EU steel and aluminum,’ the spokesperson told CNBC, adding that the delay ‘provides additional time for discussions with the U.S. administration.’ … Earlier in March, the EU had indicated it would follow a two-pronged approach of reimposing previously suspended tariffs and introducing a slew of additional duties on further goods exported by the bloc to the U.S. Those include industrial-grade steel and aluminum, other steel and aluminum semifinished and finished products, along with their derivative commercial products, such as machinery parts and knitting needles.” (03/20/25)
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/20/eu-delays-first-retaliatory-tariffs-on-us-goods-to-mid-april.html
Source: The Bulwark
by Jessica Pishko
“As the White House continues to pressure Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to ramp up its rate of deportations, the agency has cast about for allies willing to help them meet President Trump’s expectations. While many have answered that call, one group in particular has stood out for its willingness to be deputized, as it were, to help make mass deportations a reality: sheriffs. The office of the sheriff has become a political battlefield in recent years, with everyone from red state governors to thinkers at the right-wing Claremont Institute advocating radical reinterpretations of the sheriff’s role to better suit their own priorities. Few embody this tendency better than Bob Songer, the controversial and powerful thrice-elected sheriff of Klickitat County, Washington. Last week, Songer appeared on a conservative talk show to explain his enthusiasm for cooperating with ICE — even if doing so goes against his state’s laws.” (03/20/25)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/sheriff-ice-mass-deportations-law-enforcement-immigration-claremont
