Source: USA Today
by Sara Pequeño
“To the supporters of President Donald Trump who were waiting for more information about Jeffrey Epstein: I’m sorry your king has failed you. On July 7, the Justice Department declared that there was no Epstein ‘client list’ of people involved in a sex-trafficking ring. It contradicts a previous statement by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi that said the list was ‘sitting on [her] desk’ back in February, and leaves MAGA conspiracy theorists reeling with the possibility that the Trump administration either lied then or is lying now. … It must be difficult to know that someone you trusted hasn’t been honest with you, and I’m sure none of you saw this coming. I’m sure nobody before this moment realized that Trump and his entire administration demand loyalty, even in the face of clear and aggressive lying.” (07/16/25)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2025/07/16/trump-approval-rating-epstein-files-maga/85211802007/
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“US President Donald Trump has settled on another tariff deal — this time with Indonesia. Both Trump and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said the tariffs faced by the southeast Asian country would be reduced from 32% to 19%. Trump said this was in exchange for ‘full access’ for American firms. Prabowo wrote on Instagram that the deal marked a ‘new era of mutual benefit’ with Washington. Trump was ‘quite a tough negotiator,’ Prabowo told reporters in Jakarta on Wednesday. The pact is the latest to emerge after the White House unveiled a barrage of tariffs this spring, kicking off a flurry of trade talks over the duties.” (07/16/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyq0ln6z6lo
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Thomas Eddlem
“Everyone who has heard a Democratic politician speak in the last decade has heard the mantra, ‘We can balance the budget (or fund a pet new social program) if we just make the billionaires pay their fair share of taxes.’ So let’s see what it would look like.” (07/16/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/if-we-taxed-billionaires-could-we-balance-the-budget
Source: Axios
“House Democrats are introducing what is known as a discharge petition to try to force a vote on quashing President Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs, Axios has learned. The long-shot effort to kill the president’s initial round of tariffs comes as he is unleashing a new slate targeting top allies including Japan, South Korea and Brazil. But it has little chance of succeeding after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) effectively disempowered discharge petitions earlier this year by using a procedural maneuver to kill one related to proxy voting. Still, Democrats hope to at least put Republicans in the difficult position of once again having to choose between their loyalty to Trump and trying to mitigate the economic damage his tariffs inflict on their districts.” (07/16/25)
https://archive.is/soOC8
Source: Reason
“Trump and Mamdani Battle for the Populist Crown.” (07/15/25)
https://reason.com/podcast/2025/07/14/trump-and-mamdani-battle-for-the-populist-crown/
Source: Sex and the State
by Cathy Reisenwitz
“Kids create costs. And just about everything you need or need more of when you reproduce has gotten more expensive. The cost of housing, healthcare, childcare, education, and transportation has risen faster than inflation, which itself is quite high, at least based on the outcome of the last election. It’s way outpaced wage growth, at least for bottom-half households. So it makes sense to think that millions of people are desperate to have children but don’t because they just can’t afford them. It’s a simple, straightforward, heart-rending story. The only problem is that it’s patently false.” (07/16/25)
https://cathyreisenwitz.substack.com/p/having-kids-is-expensive-thats-not
Source: New York Post
by Cindy Adams
“Trump. Who may go down in history as USA’s one and only. The A-1 Trumper. Not what he says — what he does. He once threw a grenade on Jeb Bush. The family still retains those grievances. Once he tinkled on ‘Little Marco,’ who grew so upset that he couldn’t grow bigger. Now? Secretary of State. Love him, don’t love him. Donald’s not Millard Fillmore. Forget John Tyler. Shove Franklin Pierce. James Buchanan? WHO?! Tell me what Rutherford B. Hayes did besides trying to change his first name. You don’t like him? OK, mazel tov. So don’t like him. But there’s no one — not Mrs. Biden the ventriloquist, nor anybody who can get us through — but the smarts, toughness, flamboyance, fearlessness of Donald Trump!” (07/16/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/07/15/opinion/love-him-or-hate-him-theres-never-been-a-president-like-donald-trump/
Source: SFGate
“Near signs that warn of radioactive risk at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a half-dozen workers from the nuclear power company X-energy are making what appear to be gray billiard balls. Inside, they’re packed with thousands of tiny black spheres that each contain a speck of uranium enriched beyond what today’s power plants use. The United States is chasing a new age of nuclear power that banks on domestic production of reactor fuel like X-energy is making, and though the work at Oak Ridge is unfolding across just 3,000 square feet, X-energy and others are already revving up for big production. President Donald Trump set a goal of quadrupling domestic production of nuclear power within the next 25 years, signing executive orders in May to speed up development.” (07/16/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/a-look-inside-a-lab-making-the-advanced-fuel-to-20772031.php
Source: The New Republic
“Trump’s Rage Erupts as Inflation Rises and His Pollster Openly Panics.” (07/16/25)
https://newrepublic.com/article/198006/trump-rage-erupts-inflation-rises-pollster-openly-panics
Source: Liberal Currents
by Gary T Gunnels
“Hayek’s Bastards should serve as a reminder to the defenders of Hayek and neoliberalism generally to be vigilant in differentiating themselves from the far right figures and groups that have attempted to graft onto what they defend.” (07/16/25)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-bastards-of-mont-pelerin/
