Source: The Dispatch
by Jessica Riedl
“For the past four years, inflation has consistently polled as voters’ top economic concern—and often top concern overall. Nevertheless, President Joe Biden steadfastly ignored those concerns and pursued an inflationary agenda until it cost his party the White House. Then, after Trump campaigned on ending ‘Bidenflation,’ he re-entered the White House and immediately unleashed his own aggressively inflationary agenda — tariffs, tax cuts, spending expansions, immigration deportations, and demands for Federal Reserve rate cuts. … presidents invariably decide to focus on offering tangible benefits and roll the dice on any macroeconomic consequences.” (04/02/26)
https://archive.is/3qqKk
Source: SFGate
“Russia plans to send a second oil tanker to Cuba, the country’s energy minister said Thursday, citing the island’s ongoing energy blockade and reiterating Russia’s solidarity with the troubled Caribbean nation. The announcement comes just two days after sanctioned Russian tanker Anatoly Kolodkin docked at the Cuban port of Matanzas laden with 730,000 barrels of oil, marking the first time in three months that an oil tanker reached the island. Experts have said that shipment could produce about 180,000 barrels of diesel, enough to feed Cuba’s daily demand for nine or 10 days.” (04/02/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/moscow-plans-to-send-2nd-oil-tanker-to-cuba-22185631.php
Source: New York Times
“Trump Says Strait of Hormuz Is Not America’s Problem, and How Musk May Get Richer.” (04/02/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSERLe4GbRg
Source: The Daily Economy
by Barry Brownstein
“A viral mental habit about burnt toast echoes Stoic philosophy: adversity — no matter how small — is an opportunity to practice discipline, perspective, and self-mastery.” (04/02/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/burnt-toast-stoics-and-finding-growth-in-small-frustrations/
Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by Michael Boldin
“You are being ripped off. When it comes to fiat paper ‘money,’ Richard Sherman didn’t hold back. He saw it as an unjust and totally immoral weapon that turns government into a legalized protection racket for fraud. He made that case in his incredibly important, but almost completely unknown pamphlet A Caveat Against Injustice, where he called for criminal punishment for the perpetrators.” (04/01/26)
https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2026/04/01/the-evils-of-paper-money-roger-sherman-and-a-caveat-against-injustice/
Source: United Press International
“The Trump administration has lifted sanctions on Venezuela’s interim president [sic], Delcy Rodriguez, in the latest sign of warming relations between Washington and Caracas after the U.S. military ousted Venezuela’s former authoritarian leader, Nicolas Maduro. The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced in a post on its website Wednesday that Rodriguez, 56, had been removed from its Specially Designated Nationals list, unfreezing any assets that may have been under her name in the United States while allowing her to conduct business in the United States and with U.S. persons.” [editor’s note: The administration of which Rodriguez was a member was defeated in last year’s election; legally, she holds no position in Venezuela’s regime – TLK] (04/02/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/04/02/Delcy-Rodriguez-sanctions/4721775114744/
Source: Politico
“20 minutes, few answers: Trump addresses the nation on Iran.” (04/02/26)
https://traffic.megaphone.fm/POLL3946516360.mp3
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
“Social media = cigarettes?” (04/01/26)
https://www.fire.org/news/podcasts/so-speak-free-speech-podcast/social-media-cigarettes
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Kelley Beaucar Vlahos
“Expectations reached a fever pitch Wednesday, but he neither called for an end to the war nor announced a ground invasion. Bottom line: We’re not finished.” (04/01/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-address-iran/
Source: New York Post
by staff
“Not only are TSA agents getting paid, the whole absurd Homeland Security shutdown will soon end … with a whimper, wouldn’t you say? It leaves all sides in Washington a bit disgruntled and the public (especially those about to fly!) simply relieved. Senate and House GOP leaders John Thune and Mike Johnson announced Wednesday that they’d pass the bill to fund everything except some immigration-enforcement functions, then cover ICE and so on (which are fine for now thanks to special funding passed last year) in a reconciliation bill (which dodges the Senate filibuster) in a few weeks. Of course President Donald Trump took the key steps in ending the standoff, first by sending ICE agents to airports to help out and then by issuing an executive order to get TSA agents paid and so remove whatever cudgel Democrats thought they had to force ‘reforms’ to gut immigration enforcement.” (04/02/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/04/02/opinion/shutdown-ends-with-america-doubting-there-was-ever-any-point-to-it-in-the-first-place/
