Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

“New York City Mayor Commie Mamdani is putting into action, sort of, his plan to introduce government-run grocery stores and bring down grocery prices. Renting a Brooklyn storefront may cost anywhere between $60,000 to $600,000 a year depending on location and square footage. And there are other costs. Investors profit when they’re right about the opportunity and revenue exceeds costs. This means that they must satisfy customers. Or … taxpayers can fund everything regardless of success or failure.” (04/17/26)

https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/04/17/the-government-store-to-nowhere/

Source: Brownstone Institute
by Adam Garrie

“For decades, the fight for full health freedom—as defined by a system in which full informed consent replaces the legislative reality and culture of vaccine mandates—has been an arduous one. However, there are important parallels between the fight for health freedom and the success that advocates of a constitutionalist view of the Second Amendment (2A) have achieved over the last 25 years. By learning from the success of 2A advocates, supporters of health freedom can change the culture, change the law, and change legal precedent, all in favor of health freedom.” (04/18/26)

https://brownstone.org/articles/health-freedom-the-smoking-gun/

Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Galen Carpenter

“Trump administration officials are discovering that a daunting number of longstanding U.S. allies and security clients are adopting hedging policies or even openly opposing Washington’s decision to wage war against Iran. That sobering reality has become even clearer over the past week than it was during the earlier stages of the armed conflict. On April 12, the president called upon NATO members to join U.S. naval forces in blockading Iranian ports. The proposed move was in response to Tehran’s continuing efforts to selectively close the vital Strait of Hormuz to foreign shipping. However, most of Washington’s alliance partners refused to join the retaliatory blockade.” (04/17/26)

https://original.antiwar.com/ted_galen_carpenter/2026/04/16/nato-allies-adopt-evasive-policies-on-us-war-in-iran/

Source: Independent Institute
by Craig Eyerman

“The U.S. Treasury Department has been publishing its consolidated financial statements annually since 1997. In every single one, the U.S. government’s projected liabilities over the next 75 years from when the reports were published have outweighed the projected value of its assets. What has been true throughout these years, and also in 2026, is that the U.S. government doesn’t really face the risk of insolvency. To be insolvent, the U.S. government would have to have no way of paying its bills. If a business had a similar balance sheet, it would be headed to bankruptcy court. Unlike a business, the U.S. government has options. It can raise taxes. It can inflate the nation’s currency. It can use tools of financial repression to artificially lower its borrowing costs, making it seem more affordable. These are all things the U.S. government is already doing and has been for years” (04/17/26)

https://www.independent.org/article/2026/04/17/greatly-exaggerated-rumors-of-the-u-s-government-insolvency/

Source: The Daily Economy
by Peter C Earle

“Elon Musk claims AI-driven growth could fund UBI transfers without inflation. But relative prices — not just totals — still drive economic allocation.” (04/17/26)

https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/ai-abundance-wont-end-inflation-nor-make-money-meaningless/