Source: The American Prospect
by Harold Meyerson
“Exactly one year and six days ago, the Prospect posted a piece I’d just written about Colorado’s Jared Polis, under the headline ‘The Democrats’ One and Only Union-Busting Governor’. As of a couple weeks ago, that headline is no longer accurate. Polis is still a union-buster and even more out of sync with Colorado Democrats, who’ve just formally censured him for complying with President Trump’s demand to commute the sentence of Tina Peters …. But Polis no longer holds that ‘one and only’ status when it comes to Democratic governors who bust unions. Two weeks ago, Virginia’s Abigail Spanberger did just that by vetoing a bill that would have given Virginia’s public-sector workers the right to bargain collectively.” [editor’s note: So now she has lied to ALL sectors in that state; can an impeachment be far behind? – SAT] (05/25/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/05/25/how-gov-spanberger-betrayed-virginias-workers/
Source: CNN
“The 12th test flight of SpaceX’s Starship megarocket came to a dramatic close, with the spacecraft managing to complete a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean despite operating without one of its engines. The spacecraft — a new prototype called Starship V3 — released mock satellites during a brief suborbital journey. The test flight was the Starship program’s first since October. The company experienced several mishaps with its V2 prototype and scrubbed its first V3 launch attempt Thursday evening after issues arose with seconds left on the countdown clock. SpaceX is racing to get Starship ready to launch satellites and carry humans into deep space. The company hopes to fulfill NASA’s plan to use the vehicle to land its astronauts on the moon by 2028.” (05/22/26)
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/22/science/live-news/spacex-starship-flight-12-version-3-launch
Source: Serious Trouble
“Trump says he’s creating a $1.8 billion fund to hand out to whoever he wants. Can he? Plus, trouble for Eric Swalwell’s weirdo friends, Elon Musk loses, and Clavicular gets mogged by a hot judge.” (05/22/26)
https://www.serioustrouble.show/p/the-no-judgment-fund
Source: The Dispatch
by Jeffrey Bilbro
“Will we ever decide between a producerist American dream and a consumerist one?” (05/22/26)
https://thedispatch.com/next-250/productive-land-american-dream-250/
Source: EconLog
by Peter Boettke
“European powers frequently justified conquest by claiming that they were bringing civilization, Christianity, and economic improvement to the peoples they conquered. Smith rejected this narrative. In The Wealth of Nations, Smith described the ‘savage injustice’ of European colonial expansion, conquest and exploitation rather than benevolent improvement. Instead of imposing progress through force, Smith envisioned an alternative based on voluntary exchange and mutual gains from trade. The meeting of different societies, he argued, could have produced enormous benefits if it had occurred through peaceful commerce rather than coercion. The crucial issue for Smith and Easterly was not simply whether development increased material output but whether it respected the autonomy of individuals and communities.” (05/22/26)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/development-by-consent
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“The US is pausing a $14bn (£10.4bn) arms sale to Taiwan to ensure it has enough weapons for the Iran war, acting Navy secretary Hung Cao has said. Cao confirmed this at a Senate hearing, days after President Donald Trump appeared non-committal about the sale following his meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. A spokesperson for Taiwan’s presidential office told reporters on Friday that they had not received any information about ‘US adjustments to the arms sale.’ The sale of US arms to Taiwan has long irked Beijing, which [pretends] the self-governed island [i]s its territory and has not ruled out taking it by force.” (05/22/26)
https://archive.is/ZPQ0N
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Andrew Lilico
“It sounds so simple. If consumers are suffering because prices are going up, then forbid that. Who could object, beyond greedy firms profiteering by pushing prices up? … If the government caps the prices of supermarket products, that will make those products unprofitable for the supermarket to stock and also mean that consumers have to pay less for them than their economic value, the consequence being that they will sell out and not be available. Why would I, as a consumer, want key products to be unavailable in supermarkets?” (05/21/26)
https://fee.org/articles/only-a-fool-or-a-politician-would-cap-food-prices/
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
“Ryan, Connor, and Tho discuss the results of the most expensive Congressional race in American history. What does the defeat of Thomas Massie tell us? What does this mean for libertarian strategy? Should we blackpill?” (05/21/26)
https://mises.org/podcasts/power-and-market/post-massie-america
Source: Politico
“Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says her United Conservative Party government will hold a referendum in October to ask Albertans if they want to remain in Canada, or start the process toward a binding separation referendum. … The announcement marks an escalation of separatist tensions in the oil-rich and staunchly conservative province, a flashpoint that will test Prime Minister Mark Carney’s leadership as Ottawa is forced to respond to a growing national unity crisis. For months, Smith been under fire from separatist groups demanding a vote on Alberta leaving Canada, a push largely driven by Stay Free Alberta, a grassroots movement that claims to have collected more than 300,000 signatures in support of a separation referendum.” (05/21/26)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/21/alberta-separation-referendum-00933323
Source: Reason
by Veronique de Rugy
“Donald Trump is now an unpopular president. Some of this dissatisfaction is due to the war in Iran. Some of it springs from the unanticipated speed, chaos, and perceived brutality of several of his administration’s actions over the past year and a half. But a significant part of his political problem has a straightforward economic explanation: Everything feels expensive, and his tariffs are a major reason why. If the president wants to help himself and his party ahead of this year’s midterm elections, the most effective thing he can do is eliminate the tariffs. The evidence in favor of this move is overwhelming, and it comes from his own tenure.” (05/21/26)
https://reason.com/2026/05/21/trumps-approval-rating-is-cratering-tariffs-are-a-big-reason-why/
