Source: Independent Institute
by Craig Eyermann

“At any given time, the U.S. government is spending taxpayer dollars that are being wasted. Today’s example is being delivered by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). That’s a shame, because with around 533,000 career employees and another 106,000 non-career employees, the Postal Service accounts for about one out of every five of the U.S. government’s three million civilian employees. From post offices to stamp machines, mailboxes, and mail trucks, they represent the most visible connection Americans have with the federal government in their daily lives. But that connection doesn’t prevent them from squandering the resources of the taxpayers whose interests they are supposed to serve.” (12/18/25)

https://www.independent.org/article/2025/12/18/billions-usps-electric-vehicle/

Source: Cato Institute
by Scott Lincicome

“Readers might assume that, if forced to choose which U.S. policy shift was the year’s most important, I’d quickly blurt out ‘tariffs’ (before collapsing into a quivering heap), and—given the radical changes Trump has unilaterally and chaotically implemented in 2025—there are certainly good reasons for that choice. Yet there’s another, less-discussed policy change that could very well be more consequential over the long term—and one that, unlike tariffs, represents a truly radical break from how the United States has done business for a century: the Trump administration’s repeated efforts to give Uncle Sam a direct and permanent financial stake in numerous private, commercial companies.” (12/17/25)

https://www.cato.org/commentary/year-america-went-kinda-socialist

Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Jacob Gaba

“Last year, the Satanic Temple of New Hampshire put up a Baphomet statue (a part-human, part-goat satanic deity) in front of the State House in Concord. People vandalized it and knocked off its head. Concord vowed to review its policies after its mayor described the statue as ‘deliberately provocative and disturbing.’ That raised major constitutional concerns. FIRE wrote to Concord, arguing that the government could not discriminate against disfavored displays. In a victory for free speech, Concord kept the statue and arrested the perpetrators. This year, despite questions from public officials, Baphomet is back up in front of the State House. New Hampshire’s backing of the Satanic Temple’s right to display its religious symbol illustrates a core First Amendment principle: When the government invites private holiday displays, the First Amendment bars viewpoint discrimination.” (12/18/25)

https://www.thefire.org/news/can-government-ban-controversial-public-holiday-displays

Source: Liberal Currents
by Guillaume AW Attia

“China may well become the singular Olympus that all mere mortals look up to, but so long as this Olympus is home to Ogres it will struggle to compel the allegiance of the wider world.” (12/18/25)

https://www.liberalcurrents.com/china-between-ogre-and-olympus/

Source: The American Conservative
by Doug Bandow

“As a nation of immigrants, the United States long has dealt with the phenomenon of ‘hyphenated Americans,’ people who retained some affection and even loyalty to their ancestral homeland. This phenomenon wasn’t much of a problem in the 19th century, since Washington generally avoided overseas misadventures. The Mexican–American War and Spanish–American War reflected imperialist expansion rather than ancestral politics. However, that changed with World War I, when one-third of Americans had at least one foreign-born parent, mostly from Europe. As the conflict raged, Theodore Roosevelt insisted that real Americans could only support the U.S. … That Sen. [Andy] Kim presumably feels affection for his parents’ birthplace is unexceptional. … However, so-called hyphenated Americans should abandon the interests of the old world even as they celebrate continuing family and cultural ties. Legislators, especially, should leave their ethnic backgrounds outside the Capitol when they vote.” (12/18/25)

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-distorting-impact-of-hyphenated-americans-on-korea-policy/