Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
by Ron Paul

“President Trump was presented with a great opportunity on Saturday to take the off-ramp from his war on Iran. After threatening Iran that ‘a whole civilization will die tonight,’ Trump managed to get a two week pause in the war with the intervention of the Pakistani government. … after a month and a half of war, where tens of billions of dollars have been spent, every US base in the region is either damaged or destroyed, and dozens of military aircraft have been lost, President Trump did not take the off-ramp. He hit the accelerator. … Over the past weeks he has alternated between insisting that the Strait of Hormuz is unimportant to the United States and demanding that the Strait be opened immediately. Then yesterday he announced – via his social media account – that the United States military would start blockading Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.” (04/13/26)

http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/blockading-the-blockade

Source: Bluegrass Institute
by Mark Moses

“Each year, local governments spend tens of billions of dollars on economic development incentives — tax abatements, fee waivers, and direct subsidies — intended to lure private investment. Cities across the nation tout their ability to entice marquee employers, generate buzz with ribbon-cuttings, and implement incentive programs designed to attract private capital. Even small-city councils establish these departments to signal support for economic growth and to boost city revenues. Yet beneath the surface of city branding, press releases, and fiscal sustainability strategies lies a more troubling reality: economic development departments, far from facilitating genuine development and demonstrating the appropriateness of their spending, entrench inefficiency, distort markets, and perpetuate the very obstacles they purport to overcome.” (04/13/26)

https://www.bluegrassinstitute.org/city-created-problems-taxpayer-funded-fixes/

Source: Washington Post
by Jonathan Wolfson

“While workers have always been free to pursue independent contracting, the companies that hire them aren’t free to offer them benefits such as contributions to retirement plans or health savings accounts. Both federal and state law make it likely that doing so would force companies to classify independent contractors as traditional employees. But independent workers don’t want to be employees. As for businesses, hiring employees imposes extra paperwork and management costs that benefit only lawyers and accountants. That’s a lose-lose for businesses and workers alike. … This is where states are starting to lead. In 2023, Utah passed the nation’s first law giving companies an employment law safe harbor for offering portable benefits. Doing this will no longer affect an independent contractor’s employment status.” (04/13/26)

https://archive.is/wvxq6

Source: Reason
by Eric Boehm

“Tariffs implemented last year by President Donald Trump’s administration are entirely to blame for the recent surge in prices for consumer and household goods. Those tariffs have raised core goods prices by 3.1 percent, according to a new study by a trio of economists at the Federal Reserve. Those higher consumer prices were the result of retailers passing the cost of tariffs along the supply chain. As of February 2026, the tariffs ‘can explain the entirety of the excess inflation in the core goods category since January 2025,’ the economists concluded.” [editor’s note: That the claim comes from the Fed at least somewhat taints its credibility. On the other hand, there’s zero doubt that tariffs raise prices – TLK] (04/13/26)

https://reason.com/2026/04/13/federal-reserve-without-tariffs-inflation-would-have-dropped-to-pre-pandemic-levels-during-2025/

Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger

“After threatening to annihilate Iran with bombs, President Trump and the U.S. national-security establishment have decided to do so with their tried and true foreign policy tool of sanctions — or, in this case, they’re calling it for what it is — a blockade, which, as most everyone recognizes, is an act of war just as much as a bombing spree is. … While Trump, the Pentagon, and the CIA realize that American consumers will continue to suffer the economic consequences of their illegal and unconstitutional (i.e., no congressional declaration of war) war of choice and war of aggression on Iran, the hope is that Iranian officials, faced with the prospect of mass starvation among the Iranian people, will capitulate and unconditionally surrender to U.S. forces prior to the mid-term elections.”(04/13/26)

https://www.fff.org/2026/04/13/annihilating-iranian-civilization-with-a-blockade/