Source: New York Times
“China, Canada and Mexico responded angrily on Tuesday to steep new tariffs imposed by President Trump, setting off a day of retaliatory actions, stern warnings and falling stock prices as the potential ramifications of an escalating trade war began to sink in. Stung by the tariffs — an additional 10 percent on imports from China and 25 percent on almost all imports from Canada and Mexico — prompted Canada and China to quickly announce retaliatory actions, including measures that could bar some American products from their markets entirely and hit U.S. farmers particularly hard. … The S&P 500 fell as much as 2 percent, before moderating losses in the afternoon and ending the day down 1.2 percent. The day’s selling was broad based, with roughly 80 percent of the stocks in the S&P 500 lower for the day.” (03/04/25)
https://archive.is/4HpP2
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“For the most part, [Elon] Musk is correct to refer to Social Security as a Ponzi scheme. It pays out benefits from newer revenues, not by investing Social Security taxes in profitable ventures. There’s one respect in which it differs from the traditional Ponzi scheme, though. In the ‘private sector,’ Ponzi scammers try to hide what they’re up to. … Social Security, on the other hand, has transparently operated in a facially Ponzi-like manner for decades — and the US Supreme Court publicly declared, 65 years ago, in its ruling on Flemming v. Nestor, that no one is ‘entitled to’ any payout at all …. The sad truth that Musk didn’t bring up is that the victims have known — or at least should have known — they were being scammed since at least as early as 1960.” (03/04/25)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/19399
Source: Law & Liberty
“Scrutinizing Christian Nationalism.” (03/04/25)
https://lawliberty.org/podcast/scrutinizing-christian-nationalism/
Source: Deutsche Welle [German state media]
“Leaders at an extraordinary meeting of the Arab League in Cairo have endorsed an Egyptian plan for the reconstruction of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip. ‘It has been endorsed,’ said Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi told the closing session of the summit, at which he had presented a five-year plan to rebuild Gaza that will cost $53 billion (€50.5 billion), according to draft documents, and allow Palestinians to ‘remain on their land.’ … The Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the discussions and endorsements in Cairo ‘failed to address the realities of the situation’ …. Speaking at the Cairo summit, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he ‘strongly endorsed’ the Arab-led initiative, adding: ‘The UN stands ready to fully cooperate in this endeavor.'” (03/04/25)
https://www.dw.com/en/arab-leaders-un-endorse-egypts-53-billion-gaza-plan/a-71819003
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ron Paul
“Over the weekend, President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk made quite a stir with just two words posted on his social media platform, X. Responding to a post that, ‘It’s time to leave NATO and the UN,’ Musk replied, ‘I agree.’ The comment immediately made the rounds on social media and also on mainstream and alternative media. Was this the Elon Musk who owns X speaking, or was it the Elon Musk who has become one of President Trump’s closest advisors? Does it even matter? Having someone so close to the US president who advocates finally extracting the US from these international organizations is a significant and very positive shift for the United States.” (03/04/25)
https://original.antiwar.com/paul/2025/03/03/suddenly-leaving-nato-is-on-the-table/
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“A Russian drone attack late on Tuesday killed one person and caused power, water and heating cuts in Odesa for the second day running, said the regional governor, Oleh Kiper. A 77-year-old woman died of shrapnel wounds on the outskirts of the city, he said, and drone strikes damaged critical infrastructure, leaving neighbourhoods without services. Kiper said fragments from downed drones had damaged private houses and started fires in outlying city districts. A missile strike had destroyed an empty sanatorium near the town of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, south of Odesa, he added.” (03/05/25)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/05/ukraine-war-briefing-deadly-odesa-drone-attack-cuts-power-water-and-heating-for-second-day
Source: Beat the Press
by Dean Baker
“The waiting is almost over, Donald Trump is about to hit America’s workers with the largest tax increase they have ever seen. Trump’s taxes on imports (tariffs) from Canada, Mexico, and China will cost people in the United States somewhere around $400 billion a year or around $3,000 a household. This is far larger than any tax increase we’ve seen in the last half-century, and unlike tax increases put in place by Clinton and Obama, it will primarily hit low and middle-income households. Their tax increases primarily hit the top 1% percent, which is probably why they got so much more attention from the media. It is not clear what our reality TV show president hopes to accomplish with these tax hikes. His stated reasons don’t make much sense. Canada, Mexico, and China are already cooperating with the U.S. on the issues he is complaining about. There is a minimal flow of fentanyl and undocumented immigrants from Canada.” (03/04/25)
https://cepr.net/publications/donald-the-taxman/
Source: Politico
“The chair of the House GOP’s campaign arm told Republican lawmakers Tuesday to stop holding in-person town halls amid a wave of angry backlash over the cuts undertaken by President Donald Trump’s administration. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), the NRCC chair, delivered the message inside a closed-door meeting of House Republicans, according to three people granted anonymity to describe the private remarks. Trump on Monday dismissed the town hall uproar — much of it trained on the sweeping cutbacks made by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency — as being the work of ‘paid ‘troublemakers.’ Many other GOP leaders have adopted a similar tack, asserting that the protests Republican lawmakers have encountered have been concocted by Democrats and do not reflect genuine voter anger over the Trump cuts.” (03/04/25)
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/03/04/congress/gop-town-halls-richard-hudson-00210024
Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan
“In recent years, the quit rate for federal workers has been about one-quarter the rate for workers in general. Deliberate buyouts aside — the quit rate for federal workers will remain rock bottom. What makes me so confident that federal quit rates will remain low despite working conditions that most of them must find repugnant? To understand my answer, you have to ask another question: Why were federal workers quit rates so low in the first place?” (03/04/25)
https://www.betonit.ai/p/why-federal-workers-wont-quit
Source: Barron’s
“President Donald Trump showed no signs of letting up on a budding trade war during his joint address to Congress on Tuesday, vowing to usher in a ‘golden age of America’ through a combination of tariffs, tax cuts, and reductions in government spending. … Trump also attempted to pass off some of the country’s struggles over the past couple weeks on former President Joe Biden, whose economy Trump labeled a ‘catastrophe.’ Trump, for example, blamed his predecessor for recent price rises in eggs and other goods.” (03/04/25)
https://www.barrons.com/articles/trump-speech-tonight-news-94053a14
