Politico Playbook Audio Briefing, 03/19/26
Source: Politico
“Trump’s coalition challenge.” (03/19/26)
Ted Cruz Is the Republican Kamala Harris
Source: The American Conservative
by Jack Hunter
“Many consider J.D. Vance the heir apparent to Donald Trump’s MAGA legacy and the man to beat in the 2028 Republican presidential primaries — a state of affairs the Republican foreign policy establishment has never liked. Hawks have long worried that the vice president is too much of a foreign policy restrainer for their tastes (though Vance has often sounded more like neoconservatives in Trump’s second term). Still, neocons were giddy last week when polling showed that Marco Rubio’s numbers had improved against Vance, with the secretary of state being hawks’ main man in the 2016 GOP primaries and a figure who could repurpose ‘MAGA’ as the neoconservatism of old (though Trump seems to be doing this already, making Vance’s supposed 2028 inevitability less clear). But there could be more than one neocon champion in 2028.” (03/19/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/ted-cruz-is-the-republican-kamala-harris/
How a Tariff Fight Created the Federal Income Tax
Source: Independent Institute
by Phillip W Magness
“Politicians quickly saw how much revenue the income tax could produce, so they abandoned its original purpose.” (03/18/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/03/18/how-a-tariff-fight-created-the-federal-income-tax/
Dog bites man: Senate Republicans vote against being US Senators again
Source: United Press International
“Senate Republicans have blocked a Democrat-led effort to curb President Donald Trump’s powers to wage war against Iran, as the nearly three-week-old conflict escalates and rattles global energy markets. The Senate voted 53-47 mostly along party lines Wednesday night to reject a resolution that would withdraw U.S. armed forces from conflict with Iran absent congressional approval. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the only Republican to join his Democratic colleagues and vote in favor of the motion, while Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only member of his caucus to vote against it.” [editor’s note: They continue to pretend it’s the opposite of what it is. Without congressional APPROVAL in the form of a declaration of war, the war is illegal; failing to vote AGAINST it doesn’t magically make it legal – TLK] (03/19/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/03/19/Senate-vote-war-powers/6951773909421/
The Tom Woods Show, episode 2744
Source: The Tom Woods Show
“Neocons Want to Jail Tucker?” (03/18/26)
The Science of Politics, 03/18/26
Source: Niskanen Center
“The intellectual support for Trumpism.” (03/18/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/the-intellectual-support-for-trumpism/
Trading Green
Source: Property and Environment Research Center
by Annalise Helm, Dominic Parker, & Garrett Shost
“How transferable tax credits supercharge conservation easements.” (03/18/26)
FBI’s repeated non-answers on US terrorism attacks raise alarming red flags
Source: New York Post
by Miranda Devine
“The official response to my column Monday about the FBI’s failure to prevent four recent Islamic terror attacks has been unsatisfactory, to say the least, and the personal attacks by FBI Director Kash Patel’s private PR operatives have been downright deranged. None of which is reassuring when it comes to the FBI’s preparedness to handle a heightened terror threat on home soil. It’s not Patel’s fault that our foremost domestic counterterrorism agency has been degraded and politicized under his predecessors, but it’s his job to fix it fast and his defensiveness suggests a problem. The most alarming case involves Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a convicted ISIS terrorist who was on supervised federal release when he yelled ‘Allahu Akbar’ and opened fire on an ROTC classroom at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., last Thursday, killing the instructor before being killed himself.” (03/19/26)
Italy: Justice Referendum Tests Meloni and Divided Opposition
Source: US News & World Report
“A forthcoming Italian referendum on judicial reform will test right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s political strength and could give the fragmented opposition the impetus to forge a broad alliance ahead of next year’s general election. Italians will vote on March 22-23 on a proposal to separate the careers of judges and public prosecutors, splitting the self-ruling High Council of the Judiciary (CSM) into two bodies whose members would be chosen by lot rather than elected. Though centred on the governance of the judiciary, the referendum has become a political showdown between the government-backed ‘Yes’ camp and the opposition, which supports ‘No.’ There is no turnout quorum required to validate the vote.” (03/19/26)
California leaders react to Cesar Chavez abuse allegations
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“US civil rights leader Cesar Chavez, who was known for advocating for the rights of farm workers, has been accused of sexual abuse. Dolores Huerta said in the 1960s, Chavez, who co-founded the United Farm Workers union (UFW) with her, once ‘manipulated and pressured’ her into having sex, and on another occasion forced her. It comes after the New York Times published an investigation that detailed allegations from Huerta and two other women, who said Chavez groomed and sexually abused girls who were involved in the labour movement during the 1960s and 1970s. Chavez, who died in 1993 aged 66, rallied California’s farmworkers from the 1950s to push for improvements in working conditions, and led national boycotts and marches. The news has prompted Los Angeles and other communities to consider renaming places, schools, and streets named after Chavez.” (03/19/26)