Washington Monthly Podcast, 07/16/25
Source: Washington Monthly
“Supreme Court or Supreme Enablers?” (07/16/25)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2025/07/16/supreme-court-or-supreme-enablers/
Democrats are right to call for the release of the Epstein files
Source: Washington post
by Pat Dennis
“Everyone in America watched Donald Trump ride back to the presidency on his superpower: the benefit of the doubt. Even voters who didn’t approve of him as a person trusted that he was an outsider, that he was telling the truth about shaking up the old system and holding the powerful to account. So why is Trump choosing to throw that trust away to keep information about Jeffrey Epstein secret? That’s the question now eating away at even some of his most loyal supporters — and Democrats should not be afraid to ask it alongside them.” (07/16/25)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/07/16/democrats-epstein-files-trump/
Trump Embraces State Capitalism
Source: Foreign Policy
by Keith Johnson & Christina Lu
“Since taking office a second time, U.S. President Donald Trump has embraced state capitalism to a stunning degree. He has taken a personal stake, not even a government stake, in a major U.S. steel company. He has dispatched the Defense Department to buy up part of a rare-earths mining company. He has made plans to remake U.S. shipbuilding through direct government investment, directed federal resources toward the promotion of resources such as coal, and picked winners and losers in all the emerging industries that will shape the global economy in the years to come. … What makes Trump’s cannonball into the pool of state capitalism different is that he heads a political party that has, at least in recent decades, defended the free market above all.” (07/16/25)
US Senate backs $9 billion in cuts to state media, foreign aid
Source: Financial Times [UK]
“The US Senate has approved a $9bn package of spending cuts that will hit public broadcasting and overseas aid, in a sign that the push to cut government expenditure spearheaded by Elon Musk is set to outlast the billionaire’s split with Donald Trump. Broadcasting institutions NPR and PBS would lose federal funding if the package, which the Republican-led Senate approved by 51 votes to 48, were signed into law. The bill would also shut off funding for foreign aid grants for the US Agency for International Development. The measure still needs final approval by the House of Representatives, which is due to vote on it this week.” (07/17/25)
Mean Age Daydream, episode 167
Source: Lions of Liberty
“Trump’s ‘Deplorables’ Moment / New Medical Debt Credit Impact.” (07/16/25)
The Vital Center, episode 84
Source: Niskanen Center
“How William Buckley shaped the American right, with Sam Tanenhaus.” (07/16/25)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/how-william-buckley-shaped-the-american-right-with-sam-tanenhaus/
Trump can fix the Epstein mess that’s ripping his party apart
Source: New York Post
by Miranda Devine
“As much as President Trump and the White House would like everyone to shut up and move on from the dead pedophile [sic] Jeffrey Epstein, a new poll shows that the scandal isn’t going away. Rasmussen polling this week shows Trump has suffered a sharp drop in approval over the period of the Epstein brouhaha, plummeting from a plus 4 popularity rating to a negative 4 in three weeks. The poll of 1,164 likely voters conducted July 8-10 found that just 21% believe the Trump FBI and DOJ are telling the truth about Epstein, who was found hanged in his jail cell in 2019. While FBI Director Kash Patel and deputy Dan Bongino insist that Epstein committed suicide, only 31% of voters believe them. ‘You can’t just say ‘Trust me, bro!” says Mark Mitchell, Rasmussen’s head pollster.” (07/16/25)
Cato Report: Public corruption highest in places with large bureaucracies
Source: Fox News
“A new think tank analysis finds that public corruption is a significant problem in the U.S., and is most prevalent in state and local governments that have larger bureaucracies and higher regulations. The libertarian Cato Institute said it analyzed Department of Justice data on public corruption convictions in the nation’s 94 federal judicial districts and measured the annual average number of convictions per 100,000 population over the 2004–2023 period. ‘The data show that some of the most corrupt places by this measure match their reputations,’ the authors of the Cato analysis wrote. Washington, D.C., topped the rankings with 469 total convictions during the nearly 20-year period and an annual conviction rate of 3.49, according to Cato’s report.” (07/17/25)
FDA to end dozens of “obsolete” rules for US food items
Source: United Press International
“The federal government says its ending a whole slew of ‘obsolete’ U.S. food standards that Trump administration officials say also include ‘unnecessary’ ones. ‘I’m eliminating outdated food regulations that no longer serve the interests of American families,’ stated U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it’s revoking, or proposing to revoke, 52 federal standards for scores of food products in items such as canned fruit, vegetables, dairy, baked goods and macaroni products.” (07/16/25)
System Update, episode 488
Source: System Update
“Congress Again Dictates Curriculum & Faculty at Private Universities; How UnitedHealth Group Silences its Critics: With NYT Reporter David Enrich.” (07/16/25)