News of the Week for June ^1st, 2025

• Abortion
• Gun Rights
• Hide the Decline
• Socialized Medicine
• War & Terror
• National News
• Economy & Taxes
• International News
• Opinion

 

Abortion

Court Cases & Legislation

 

French scientist Etienne-Emile Baulieu, inventor of the abortion pill, dies at 98
French scientist Etienne-Emile Baulieu, best known as the inventor of the abortion pill, died on Friday aged 98 at his home in Paris, his institute said in a statement.

Lawsuit challenging Kentucky’s near-total ban on abortions is withdrawn
Attorneys for a woman who sued Kentucky seeking to restore the right to an abortion have dropped their challenge to the state’s near-total ban on the procedure.

Gun Rights

 

Trump Administration Proposes Merging ATF into DEA
Since President Donald Trump took office, there’s been talk of merging the ATF in with the FBI. On some level, a lot of us like the idea. With a merger of that type, the ATF wouldn’t be so desperate to make gun arrests to justify their budget, and maybe leave folks alone.

 

Hide the Decline

Environment &“Green Energy”

 

National Geographic Society to Fund ‘Nature Rights’ Advocacy
The “nature rights” movement has really hit the big time. The National Geographic Society — one of the world’s largest and most influential science organizations — is going to pour money into the movement.

Michael Mann Owes NR and CEI $1 Million
The longer Michael Mann maintains his shameful litigation over a blog post that appeared in NR over a decade ago, the more he loses.

 

Socialized Medicine

Government in Healthcare

 

French MPs To Vote on One of the World’s Most Extreme Euthanasia Laws
French MPs are preparing to vote on a law that would legalise euthanasia and assisted suicide. In the final days of the parliamentary debate, as the proposal’s provisions were reviewed, some of the most outrageous articles were discussed and, unfortunately, many were adopted.

Assisted Suicide on the March
The assisted suicide movement is slowly metastasizing throughout the West. Delaware just became the twelfth U.S. jurisdiction allowing doctors to intentionally prescribe a lethal overdose of drugs as a supposed “treatment” for a terminal illness. (Why such an event pleases certain politicians and activists is beyond me. We are talking about endorsing suicide.)

The MAHA Report Cites Studies That Don’t Exist
The Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” report misinterprets some studies and cites others that don’t exist, according to the listed authors.

‘Well, we all are going to die’: Joni Ernst spars with town hall crowd over Medicaid
The Iowa senator shocked constituents Friday when she defended Republicans’ reconciliation package.

The New ‘Make America Healthy Again’ Report Is Filled with Artificial Ingredients
On the menu today: You knew that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. isn’t a fan of artificial sweeteners, but apparently, he and his top staffers are just fine with artificial intelligence — at least, that’s the signal from a new egregiously error-filled “Make America Healthy Again” department report. It turns out Kennedy’s big signature report on his agenda was full of, er, artificial ingredients, and it probably isn’t all that good for you.

Do You Trust Suicide? Well, If You’re Looking for Someone to Be Dead, You Are
This “news” item on the insipidly grave “Medical Aid in Dying” hitting Illinois refers to palliative care and hospice as types of “medical aid in dying.”

Do You Trust AI to Decide When You Die?
Meet EdenCare: the artificial intelligence health-care platform that ChatGPT devised when I asked it to create a short story about how AI could be used in end-of-life decisions. EdenCare’s primary diagnostic tool is Protocol Dignitas, a program reserved for terminally ill patients, monitored by “a compassionate AI counselor named Ione.”

The MAHA Report Has Been Updated With Fresh Errors
One psychologist who is newly cited in the report said the updated reference misconstrues his research.

War & Terror

 

Russia’s motorbike squads may be suicidal but they are hurting Ukraine
Putin gambles on two-wheeled evasion tactic despite the slim chance of success and high casualty rate

The Islamic State Attacks the New Syrian Government
Even before a high-profile new attack in the east, shifting trends in the number, nature, and location of plots showed why the United States isn’t quite ready to take a victory lap in the battle against IS in Syria.

Retired four-star US admiral convicted on corruption charges
A jury on Monday convicted a retired four-star US admiral who served as the US Navy’s second-highest-ranking officer on corruption charges for steering contracts to a company in exchange for a lucrative job.

Pentagon accepts luxury jet from Qatar to use as Air Force One
The Air Force will work to ensure the jet can safely transport the president.

Sanctioned Ukrainian ex-politician shot dead outside Madrid’s American school
Former Ukrainian politician Andriy Portnov, who worked as a senior aide to pro-Russian former President Viktor Yanukovych, has been shot dead outside a school near the Spanish capital Madrid, Spanish authorities told CNN.

Intercepted radio chatter and drone footage appear to capture Russian orders to kill surrendering Ukrainian troops
The radio crackled, but the order barked into it was clear: Capture the commander and kill the others. The chilling exchange was part of a series of radio transmissions between Russian forces that Ukrainian officials say provide further evidence that Russian superiors are ordering soldiers to execute surrendering Ukrainian troops in violation of international law.

2 Israeli Embassy staff members killed outside Jewish museum in Washington, DC
The man and woman killed, identified as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, were a “young couple about to be engaged,” according to Israel’s ambassador to the US. Lischinsky, 30, was a research assistant in the political department at the embassy, while Milgrim, 26, organized trips to Israel, according to the Israeli foreign ministry. The sole suspect was identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, who chanted “Free, free Palestine” while in custody, police said. Eyewitnesses told CNN the suspected shooter waited for police to arrive before saying he “did it for Gaza.”

‘Serious’ Accident At N. Korea Warship Launch Ceremony: State Media
A major accident occurred at a launch ceremony for a new North Korean naval destroyer, state media reported Thursday, with leader Kim Jong Un saying the mishap was a “criminal act”.

Taiwan Is Getting Serious About Self-Defense
Turning Taiwan into a porcupine will be essential for staving off a Chinese attack.

Trump Starts to Suspect That Vladimir Putin Isn’t Such a Swell Guy
I get accused of being obsessed with Ukraine, but I haven’t written about the Russian invasion of that beleaguered country since a Corner post May 5, noting that former CIA chief of operations for Europe and Eurasia concluded that the Biden administration’s approach to military aid for Ukraine “never gave them enough to win, only enough to bleed.” (When some people write, “You’re obsessed with Ukraine,” what they really mean is, “I don’t like hearing or reading about this topic.”) President Trump weighed in on the conflict over Memorial Day weekend, letting us know he thinks Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has “gone absolutely CRAZY,” and how he’s “not happy with what Putin’s doing.” That’s great, Mr. President. So, what do you want to do about it?

Vladimir Putin Has Not Gone Crazy
In a Truth Social post after a major Russian aerial assault on Ukraine, Trump laments that Vladimir Putin is not the Vladimir he used to know.

China’s most advanced bombers seen on disputed South China Sea island
Satellite imagery shows China landed two of its most advanced bombers in the disputed Paracel islands in the South China Sea this month – a gesture that some analysts described as Beijing’s latest signalling of its growing military capabilities to rivals.

The Next Step Is Realizing That Putin’s Russia Fights On Because Putin’s Russia Wants to Fight On
Jim Geraghty is undoubtedly correct that it’s a positive development that President Trump finally seems to be coming to the realization that Vladimir Putin isn’t “such a swell guy.”

China backs Starmer’s Chagos deal
Beijing undermines Prime Minister by offering ‘massive congratulations’ to UK

Putin’s nuclear files
Danwatch and Der Spiegel has gained access to hundreds of highly detailed blueprints showing how Russia is carrying out an enormous modernization of some of the world’s most sensitive nuclear weapons facilities.

Russia’s Vast Nuclear Modernization Exposed in ‘Unprecedented’ Security Breach – Der Spiegel
A massive tranche of over 2 million documents found in a public database sheds light on Russia’s expansion and modernization of its highly sensitive nuclear weapons complex, the Danish investigative outlet Danwatch and Germany’s Der Spiegel reported Wednesday.

Defense Tech: Silicon Valley Forge
When it comes to defense, American competition with, above all, China is already focused on the need to remain ahead technologically in areas that would once have been almost unimaginable. I wrote about this at some length back in 2021, arguing that something analogous to the “Sputnik moment” was again needed. Shocked by the early lead taken by the Soviets in space, the U.S. made a major effort to out-innovate the USSR, not least in a space race where borders between the “peaceful” and the military were far blurrier than all that happy talk about “for all mankind” was designed to imply.

Iran Builds Up Near Weapons-Grade Uranium Stockpile Despite Nuclear Talks
Iran has continued to produce highly enriched uranium at a pace of roughly one nuclear weapon’s worth a month over the past three months despite talks between Washington and Tehran on a new nuclear deal, the United Nations atomic agency said.

Ukraine destroyed more than 40 military aircraft in a drone attack deep inside Russia, official says
A Ukrainian drone attack has destroyed more than 40 Russian planes deep in Russia’s territory, a Ukrainian security official told The Associated Press on Sunday, while Russia pounded Ukraine with missiles and drones a day before the two sides meet for a new round of direct talks in Istanbul.

Russia may attack Nato in next four years, German defence chief warns
Members of the Western alliance Nato need to prepare for a possible attack from Russia within the next four years, according to Germany’s chief of defence.

 

National

 

Bove, Top Justice Dept. Official, Is Considered for Circuit Court Nomination
Emil Bove III has emerged as a top contender to fill a vacancy on the appeals court covering Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, people familiar with the matter said.

Conservative media targeted by Qatari foreign influence operations
After President Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, foreign agents working on behalf of the Qatari government appear to have shifted their focus to right-wing media, fueling speculation that the terror-linked Gulf state is attempting to win influence among conservatives.

Biden has been diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer
Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, his office said Sunday.

University of Redlands offers ‘Queer Dictionary’ to help students understand ‘queer existence’
A private university in Southern California instructs students and staff to advocate for the LGBT community through resources such as a ‘queer dictionary’ and ‘gender-inclusive housing.’ The Queer Dictionary includes terms such as ‘Skoliosexual,’ ‘Omnigender,’ ‘Neutrois’ and ‘Multisexual.’

Analysis: Trump’s FBI bosses are angering the MAGA media bubble they once stoked
In 2023, Dan Bongino, star podcaster, demanded to know: “What the hell are they hiding with Jeffrey Epstein?”

Sources contradict Trump narrative about Qatar offering plane as ‘gift’
The Trump administration first approached Qatar to inquire about acquiring a Boeing 747 that could be used as Air Force One by President Donald Trump, four sources familiar with the discussions told CNN. That’s contrary to the narrative from the president that Qatar reached out and offered the jet as a “gift” to him.

Fiore suspended with pay from Nevada bench after Trump pardon
The Nye County justice of the peace still represents a “substantial threat of serious harm,” the state’s judicial discipline commission ruled Monday.

California’s nearest active undersea volcano is about to erupt
A mysterious and highly active undersea volcano off the Pacific Coast could erupt by the end of this year, scientists say. Nearly a mile deep and about 700 miles northwest of San Francisco, the volcano known as Axial Seamount is drawing increasing scrutiny from scientists who only discovered its existence in the 1980s.

Do Democrats Have Another Blue Wave in Them?
Democrats are seeing a surge in candidates ready to run for office. But it’s not the same resistance movement seen during Trump’s first term.

Wisconsin: Liberal Chris Taylor to challenge conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley in 2026
Appeals Court Judge Chris Taylor announced her candidacy for Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2026 against conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley. Before Gov. Tony Evers appointed Taylor to the Dane County Circuit Court bench in 2020, she served for just under 10 years in the state Legislature and was known as one of the most liberal members. The 2026 Supreme Court race differs from this year’s bitter and expensive battle in one important way: The ideological majority is not up for grabs. Bradley announced in April that she would seek another 10-year term on the court.

The Prevalence of Marxism in Academia
As the Iron Curtain crumbled, people often joked, “Marxism is dead everywhere – except American universities.” The stereotype of the Marxist professor runs deep. But is this stereotype grounded in statistical fact? Here are the results from a 2006 nationally representative survey of American professors. The survey asked if the professor considered himself “radical,” “political activist,” or “Marxist.”

Supreme Court Restores Maine Legislator’s Voting Rights Pending Outcome of Appeal
The Maine legislature has sought to silence and disenfranchise one of its members due to objections to things she said.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem struggles to define habeas corpus at Senate hearing
“Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country,” Noem said. “That’s incorrect,” a Democratic senator responded.

Challenger O’Connor Defeats BLM Pittsburgh Mayor in Democratic Primary
Generally speaking, I’m against “common sense” Democrats. As a conservative, I want to see the Democratic Party destroy itself by embracing the most extreme ideas of the progressive fringe. From that perspective, Corey O’Connor’s victory in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for mayor of Pittsburgh is actually bad news, because the guy he was running against, incumbent Mayor Ed Gainey, is the pluperfect example of everything wrong with the Democratic Party. Gainey “has been a vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement” and, when he was a member of the Pennsylvania state legislature in 2020, he joined a “protest on the floor of the state House to demand a special session on police reform.” Democrats want to be the party of cop-hating racial demagoguery? As a Republican, I say, “Go for it!”

Leak Shows Gabbard Goon Secretly Ordering Intel Change So It Couldn’t Be ‘Used Against’ Trump
A bombshell email leak has exposed how a top aide to Tulsi Gabbard quietly ordered officials to rewrite a damaging intelligence assessment so it couldn’t be “used against” Donald Trump.

State prosecutor’s office launches a criminal investigation related to Hope Florida
Leon County prosecutors say there is an open criminal investigation relating to information a lawmaker provided concerning the Hope Florida Foundation.

Woman shot at CIA headquarters after crashing into gate
A woman was shot and wounded at CIA headquarters after crashing into a gate there early Thursday morning. The woman has been preliminarily identified as 27-year-old Monia Spadaro, two senior law enforcement officials briefed on the incident told NBC News. The shooting on CIA property occurred hours after two Israeli Embassy staff members were shot and killed outside D.C.’s Capital Jewish Museum.

Supreme Court blocks nation’s first religious charter school in major loss for religious rights advocates
A divided Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the creation of the nation’s first religious charter school, a major loss for religious rights advocates after a string of victories from the high court.

Supreme Court Allows Lies About Racial Preferences and DEI to Be Federal Crimes
Be careful what you wish for, because it might be used against you. That’s always a useful rule for government and law, and doubly so when minting federal crimes out of disclosure issues. That may be a long-term lesson to be learned the hard way from this morning’s decision in Kousisis v. United States.

Trump sent 50 Venezuelans to prison in El Salvador. They were in the US legally.
Trump administration says they’re gang members in the US illegally. Available information finds they entered legally, had no criminal charges.

Vance says Chief Justice “wrong” on judiciary’s role in checking executive branch
Vice President JD Vance characterized Chief Justice John Roberts’ recent statement that the judiciary can “check the excesses” of the executive as a “profoundly wrong sentiment” in a New York Times interview published Wednesday.

ICE Arrests Mississippi Father at His Citizenship Hearing, Threatening Deportation
One morning, sitting in an immigration office in Memphis, Kasper Eriksen found himself transformed. Only a day before, he was a welding foreman, a husband and father of four who lived on a family farm in Sturgis, Mississippi. Now, he was a detainee, bound and shackled to the sterile white seats of a detention shuttle in Tennessee, headed southwest, barely able to wriggle.

Trump Administration Bans Harvard from Enrolling Foreign Students
The Trump administration has prohibited Harvard University from enrolling foreign students, following through on a threat to do so if Harvard failed to comply with an extensive records demand regarding the activities of such students, most of whom are permitted to study in the United States on F-1 student visas or J-1 visas that pertain to specific exchange programs.

Most Migrants Deported to Imprisonment in El Salvador Under the Alien Enemies Act Had no Criminal Record and Many had Entered the US Legally
A new Cato Institute study by David Bier presents the most extensive available evidence on these points.

Trump Denies FEMA Aid Extension in State He Won Three Times
Democratic Gov. Josh Stein announced Friday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has denied North Carolina’s request to extend the full reimbursement period for Hurricane Helene recovery efforts.

WWE Crowd Slams Ron DeSantis With Brutal Chant in Florida
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was greeted not with cheers but with a loud, sustained chorus of boos and chants at WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event in Tampa, where fans made their disapproval of the former Republican presidential candidate resoundingly clear.

Nevada nonpartisans could vote in party primaries under bill brought by top lawmaker
The state’s largest voting bloc has been shut out of party primaries. Top electeds from major parties opposed a measure with open primaries last year.

Ah, Good, the 2026 Congressional Campaign Videos Have Started
The congressional campaign of Nevada GOP congressional candidate Tera Anderson sends out a press release announcing they have released the “first campaign ad of the 2026 cycle.” I don’t know if that’s something you want to brag about. Nevada’s primaries for next year’s election cycle will be held Tuesday, June 9, 2026 — 378 days away. The general election is 525 days away.

The GOP’s 2026 Strategy Puts All Eggs in Trump’s Basket
The GOP’s strategy heading into the 2026 midterm elections, according to Axios’s Alex Isenstadt, is pretty conventional. Republicans hope to recruit strong candidates, curb retirements, convince ambitious House members to forego Senate runs or gubernatorial bids, and raise gobs of money. The only thing that’s unique here is that Donald Trump is expected to do it all.

Trump asks Supreme Court to make it easier to deport migrants to South Sudan and other third-party countries
President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to make it easier for his administration to deport people to South Sudan and other countries that are not their homeland, the latest in a series of controversial immigration policies the administration has put before the conservative-majority high court.

Musk blasts Trump’s spending bill for ‘undermining’ DOGE and claims D.C. treated them as ‘whipping boys’
Elon Musk’s bromance with President Donald Trump has taken a hit after the tech billionaire blasted the White House for ‘undermining’ him and treating DOGE like ‘whipping boys.’

Trump Pardoned Tax Cheat After Mother Attended $1 Million Dinner
Paul Walczak’s pardon application cited his mother’s support for the president, including raising millions of dollars and a connection to a plot to publicize a Biden family diary.

Trump asks Supreme Court to remove judge-ordered restrictions on 3rd-country deportations
The emergency petition involves migrants headed to South Sudan.

The List of Lawmakers Who Made Stock Trades Around Trump’s Tariff Announcements Is Growing
Republicans Byron Donalds and Dan Newhouse are the latest lawmakers to disclose stock trades.

GOP Representative Bill Huizenga Says He’s Being ‘Encouraged to Run’ for Michigan Senate Seat in 2026
Representative Bill Huizenga (R., Mich.) will headline a regional GOP fundraising dinner alongside 2026 gubernatorial candidates and a handful of other elected Republicans in Mackinaw County, Mich., on June 7, he confirmed to National Review, raising speculation that he may run for retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters’s seat in 2026.

DOGE Meets Its Old Yeller Conclusion
Elon Musk is leaving Washington, and it’s better for all parties that this is the way of it. D.C. is, in many respects, a non-Newtonian fluid, presenting a solid barrier to any change that moves faster than the Laurentide Ice Sheet. An idiosyncratic futurist who thinks and operates at the speed of space travel was never going to have the patience for what needs doing.

VA-based DOGE associate gets ‘the boot’ after publicly discussing his work
Sahil Lavingia detailed in a personal blog how the reality of hunting inefficiencies at the Department of Veterans Affairs was not what he had expected.

Record Party Divide 10 Years After Same-Sex Marriage Ruling
Republican support has dropped 14 points since 2022

Kennedy Center vice president says he was fired after past writings, statements questioned
A former vice president at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts says he was fired by the organization following a CNN investigation into his previous comments on gay marriage.

Trump tariffs reinstated by appeals court for now
A federal appeals court granted the Trump administration’s request to temporarily pause a lower-court ruling that struck down most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The administration had told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that it might seek “emergency relief” from the Supreme Court. Trump officials including Peter Navarro and Stephen Miller heaped criticism on the trade court judges following their ruling.

CPAC Hungary: The age of Chinese Communist Party collaborators is here
The 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference in Hungary begins in Budapest on Thursday.

Courts to Trump: You can’t teach old laws new tricks
The rulings against the Trump’s tariffs are the latest pushback from courts as the president seeks to harness emergency powers under seldom-used statutes.

Trump Taps Palantir to Compile Data on Americans
The Trump administration has expanded Palantir’s work with the government, spreading the company’s technology — which could easily merge data on Americans — throughout agencies.

MAGA outlet’s Pentagon correspondent criticized Hegseth. And then she was fired, she says
Gabrielle Cuccia criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s crackdown on press access at the Pentagon. And then, she said, she was fired.

Catholic Church Sues to Protect the Confessional in Washington
This was predictable enough when the state of Washington passed a law earlier this month that not only forced Catholic priests to break the seal of the confessional if they learned of past sexual abuse, but singled out the clergy for less confidentiality protection than union representatives, peer-group and addiction counselors, lawyers, counselors, domestic violence advocates, “public officers,” and even podiatrists.

Engineers develop self-healing muscle for robots
A University of Nebraska–Lincoln engineering team is another step closer to developing soft robotics and wearable systems that mimic the ability of human and plant skin to detect and self-heal injuries.

Trump’s Promises of Easy Wins Meet Reality During a Rocky Week
President Donald Trump returned to office promising to easily fix generationally intractable problems, from quickly brokering peace in Ukraine and the Middle East to overhauling the federal government and rewriting the global trade order.

Short Circuit: An inexhaustive weekly compendium of rulings from the federal courts of appeal
Book burning, hit pieces, and marijuana’s historical pedigree.

 

Economy & Taxes

 

30-year Treasury yield jumps above 5% after Moody’s downgrades U.S. credit rating
U.S. Treasury yields spiked on Monday after Moody’s downgraded the U.S.’ credit rating, causing investors to dump bonds. Rates hit key levels that have pressured financial markets recently.

Will Anyone Take the Factory Jobs Trump Wants to Bring Back to America?
The president has pledged to bring more factory work back to the U.S., but many manufacturing jobs are already going unfilled

Tariffs: Walmart’s Inconvenient Truth
Walmart is America’s largest retailer, and if it is unable to outrun the impact of tariffs, what chance do smaller outfits have?

The Debt: Another Alarm Sounds
Moody’s became the last of the three major rating agencies to downgrade U.S. debt from a AAA rating to its second-best grade (in Moody’s case, that’s Aa1). Standard & Poor’s was the first to cut (to AA+), back in 2011 (prompting a call for arrests by Michael Moore) and Fitch followed suit in 2023.

House fiscal hawks want a megabill price tag before passage. They probably won’t get it.
Congress’ nonpartisan scorekeeper is not expected to turn around a total cost estimate in time for a House passage vote.

Mortgage rates jump above 7% after Moody’s downgrade of U.S. credit
‘The timing is really not ideal for prospective buyers,’ economist says

Bill for consumers from tariffs due soon, like coal for Christmas
Regulations imposed, American consumers ultimately paying, and industry volatility are damaging impacts from across-the-board tariffs in a world economy where measures vary by country and product.

Why the Senior Poverty Rate Looks Worse Than It Really Is
In conversations about Social Security, opponents of reform sometimes point to the senior poverty rate to explain why the program cannot be changed. In 2024, 9.7 percent of Americans aged 65 or older had incomes below the poverty line, according to the official government poverty statistics reported by the Census Bureau. That proportion has basically been the same since 2000, suggesting that any progress in reducing senior poverty has basically stopped. This would be bad news if it were true.

1 in 6 Nevadans use food stamps. GOP bill could force Nevada to pay $170M or make cuts.
Nevada would shoulder costs that have been almost entirely footed by the feds, more people would face work requirements, and fewer children would be eligible.

The Big Beautiful Mess
For a long stretch, just about every Republican with presidential ambitions wanted not just tax cuts, but a simpler, fairer tax system to go along with those cuts. Sometimes GOP officials would embrace a flat tax or Herman Cain’s “nine nine nine,” often they just wanted a “flatter” tax code with fewer income tax brackets. In fact, for decades, a broad bipartisan consensus agreed that the U.S. tax code is too complicated, with too many exceptions, carve-outs, deductions, and loopholes.

Market Jitters Over a ‘Big, Beautiful’ Bill
Investors burned by President Trump’s trade fight now have to contend with a spending megabill that risks swelling the federal deficit.

Target CEO says tariffs risk ‘massive’ costs, but price hikes a ‘last resort’
The company reported a drop in sales in its most recent quarter.

April home sales dropped to the slowest pace for that month since 2009
Home sales in April dropped, as consumers faced high home prices and growing concern over the economy and employment. “Home sales have been at 75% of normal or pre-pandemic activity for the past three years, even with seven million jobs added to the economy,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. The median price of an existing home sold in April was $414,000, an increase of just 1.8% year-over-year.

House Republicans pass Trump’s big bill of tax breaks and program cuts after all-night session
House Republicans stayed up all night to pass their multitrillion-dollar tax breaks package, with Speaker Mike Johnson defying the skeptics and unifying his ranks to muscle President Donald Trump’s priority bill to approval Thursday.

American Manufacturing Is Doing Just Fine (Or At Least It Was Through 2024)
You rightly express skepticism of the single most common excuse for Trump’s tariffs, namely, that American manufacturing output is on the ropes (“Can Trump’s Tariffs Help Create a ‘Golden Age’ of US Manufacturing?” May 21). But American manufacturing, in fact, is thriving. In the twenty years from the first quarter of 2005 through the fourth quarter of 2024, real manufacturing output for the U.S. as a whole rose by 30 percent.

Tesla, Hyundai, BMW, Mercedes test smarter robots as manufacturing aims for human-free ‘dark factory’
Automakers and other manufacturers have spent decades infusing automation into their factories and attempting to minimize their reliance on human workers.

One Weird Trick for More Domestic Manufacturing Jobs
An enormous amount of the self-destructive effort poured into the Trump administration’s global war on trade has been justified on the Rustpolitik theory that the decline of manufacturing jobs in the Midwest is a social crisis of sufficient proportions that it delegitimizes the entire national and global economic order and justifies an “anything would be better than the status quo” approach.

Tooling Around
Matthew Hennessey of the Wall Street Journal takes exception to the vice president’s description of the market as (just) “a tool.” Hennessey’s point is that there are laws of economics that apply even when commentators or politicians find them inconvenient. I’m not sure Vance was denying that.

Federal Court Blocks Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs
A federal trade court issued a major ruling against the Trump administration Wednesday declaring that President Trump may not unilaterally impose tariffs with an emergency law.

The Sudden End to Tariffs and the TACO Trade
On the menu today: President Trump’s tariff agenda is dealt a colossal setback in court; why the president isn’t likely to want to see tacos on his plate anytime soon; and further thoughts on Andrew Cuomo and New York City voters’ likely choice for mayor.

But I Thought Trump Said the Other Countries Pay the Tariffs
Yesterday’s ruling by the Court of International Trade, invalidating a number of the Trump tariffs on the ground that the president lacks power under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to unilaterally impose tariffs after unilaterally pronouncing emergencies, is ground-shifting.

Hawaii Introduces Tourist Tax for People Visiting State
Governor Josh Green has signed legislation boosting the tax on hotel rooms and vacation rentals as Hawaii seeks to raise money to help address the potential ramifications of climate change.

Inside the Las Vegas bitcoin party: ‘Whales’, JD Vance and the Trump sons
The US president is a crypto booster — and the faithful went to America’s gambling capital to celebrate

Protectionist Angst Is ‘Made in America’ — So Are Lots of Other Things
Manufacturing jobs are often difficult and dangerous. Thanks to labor-saving tech, fewer Americans need to work them, and our industrial output remains at near all-time highs.

Reviving Manufacturing Isn’t the Answer
The leftists have their slogans designed to attract supporters, such as “we must save the environment” and “we need to bring about social justice.” Trump knows how to counter them. He has his own set of slogans, meant to appeal to a different set of Americans. The one he’s been flogging all year is the notion that the country will be much better off if only we can “bring back American manufacturing.” Supposedly, that’s the key to greater prosperity — making more things, with good, steady jobs in factories. But that claim is just as empty as those of the left.

Reviving Factory Jobs is an Expensive Illusion
Manufacturing jobs and their wages aren’t disproportionately better than other sectors — certainly not enough to justify government favoritism.

The DOGE Rescission is Coming
Congress can draft legislation that rescinds spending found by DOGE. But doing so would go through the normal legislative process and risk a filibuster in the Senate.

Inflation rate slipped to 2.1% in April, lower than expected, Fed’s preferred gauge shows
The personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve’s key inflation measure, increased just 0.1% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 2.1%. Core inflation also was at 0.1% for the month though it was higher on an annual level at 2.5%. Consumer spending, though, slowed sharply for the month, posting just a 0.2% increase, while the savings rate surged to 4.9%, the highest in nearly a year.

No one cares about the debt anymore
When the national debt bomb goes off, voters will blame Washington, or the “robber barons” of Wall Street, or maybe China, the media, and George Soros — anyone but themselves. The reality is that there’s virtually no popular will to do anything about the problem.

After Keynesian Macroeconomics
For the applied economist, the confident and apparently successful application of Keynesian principles to economic policy which occurred in the United States in the 1960s was an event of incomparable significance and satisfaction. These principles led to a set of simple, quantitative relationships between fiscal policy and economic activity generally, the basic logic of which could be (and was) explained to the general public and which could be applied to yield improvements in economic performance benefitting everyone. It seemed an economics as free of ideological difficulties as, say, applied chemistry or physics, promising a straightforward expansion in economic possibilities. One might argue as to how this windfall should be distributed, but it seemed a simple lapse of logic to oppose the windfall itself. Understandably and correctly, noneconomists met this promise with skepticism at first; the smoothly growing prosperity of the Kennedy-Johnson years did much to diminish these doubts.

Thomas Sowell Enters the Vance vs. Hennessey Debate
‘FDR’s greatest contribution to military production in World War II was putting an end to his incessant interventions in the economy.’

 

International

 

Fears of new ‘super cartel’ as Mexico’s most violent gangs make terrifying alliance
Members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and ‘Los Chapitos’ faction of the notorious Sinaloa Cartel are said to have formed an alliance which could prove deadly

What El Salvador’s Bukele, a hero for the American right, isn’t showing the world
Victor Barahona was grateful when soldiers started rounding up gang members who had long terrorized this working-class city. No longer would his grandchildren pass drug deals or be startled from sleep by the crack of gunfire.

Pro-EU centrist wins tense Romania presidential vote rerun
Nicusor Dan, the centrist mayor of Bucharest, won a tense rerun of Romania’s presidential election on Sunday, beating nationalist George Simion in a vote seen as crucial for the direction of the EU and NATO member bordering war-torn Ukraine.

Wife of Tory councillor jailed over Southport post ‘not racist’ and ‘loved’ African and Asian heritage children she cared for, husband says as appeal quashed
Lucy Connolly was sentenced to 31 months in prison after admitting to inciting racial hatred with an X post that said hotels housing asylum seekers should be set on fire amid summer rioting across the UK last year.

‘Drug-smuggling cat’ caught trying to sneak into prison with heroin strapped to back
The black-and-white cat was spotted as it attempted to clamber over a barbed-wire lined fence in Pococi, Costa Rica, with a backpack full of packages of cannabis and heroin

Tate brothers face rape and trafficking charges in the UK
Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate have been charged in Britain with rape and other crimes, prosecutors said Wednesday.

 

Opinion

 

Who Is the President Here?
On Russia and beyond, the VP seems to be signaling policy preferences that do not comport with those of the administration he serves.

Not What I Voted For
First, prayers for President Joe Biden. In a statement yesterday, the former President announced he has prostate cancer that has metastasized to the bone. Keep him in your prayers. Should he attempt treatment, instead of palliative care, it would be an ordeal for anyone, particularly an 82-year-old.

Bigotry, Hypocrisy, and Trump’s Admission of Afrikaners as Refugees
The Administration isn’t wrong to admit white South African migrants. But it is wrong to exclude all other refugees, including many fleeing far worse discrimination and oppression.

Woke Right: MAGA’s “New Atheists”?
The “New Atheism” movement, which lasted more or less from 2005 until 2015, was a cringey and curious thing, and it has become an object of much mythology, particularly on the highly online, largely Christian Right. Unfortunately, they don’t know much about it, leading them to turn it into propaganda for a cause that mirrors it more than many might find comfortable. In this casual episode of the New Discourses Podcast, host James Lindsay goes through quite a lot of the history of the New Atheism movement as it really was and compares it against Critical Religion Theory, Marxism, and, ironically, the Woke Right. Join him for a surprising and refreshing discussion.

Nationaide Injunctions vs. Nationwide Executive Orders
Do federal judges have too much power—or do presidents?

What Happened In 2024
An Analysis Of The 2024 Presidential Election

In Praise of Hippie Punching
Figuratively, of course.

Trump Is Not Different
Throughout the process that led to House passage of the ‘big beautiful bill,’ the Trump-led GOP has behaved in precisely the same manner as did the old guard it claims to disdain.

The Work-Around for the White House’s Missing Transcripts
I wish the Trump White House had continued the established tradition of posting transcripts of the president’s remarks and the White House press briefing. When I’m writing about the president, I want to quote him accurately, and it’s always good to reassure a reader by throwing in a link to the transcript. Coverage of the president’s remarks in news articles by wire services and other journalism organizations usually just includes one or two sentences.

Trump 2.0 repudiates the conservatism of Trump 1.0.
A guest essay from National Review’s Noah Rothman.

Monty Python, The Holy Grail, and the Idea of Due Process
“How do you know she’s a witch?”

Let’s stop pretending ‘no tax on tips’ is anything but a political ploy
The Senate voted unanimously to make tips untaxed. Cue the celebration in Nevada.

JD Vance Is Wrong: The Market Isn’t a ‘Tool’
As economically illiterate as any leftist Democrat, he even imagines the word is spelled with a capital M.

‘America’s Racial Reckoning’ Didn’t Unravel. It Was Dismantled
The promise of America’s “racial reckoning” has “unraveled,” Axios’s reporters mourned on Friday. “The America that marched for George Floyd five years ago is gone,” the three-bylined dispatch lamented, “buried beneath a backlash that has hardened — for now — into a new political and cultural order.”

Kill the Admissions Essay
A longstanding college-application genre is hampering the pursuit of merit.

Personal & confidential: WFB, Jr.
The death of William F. Buckley, Jr. on February 27, 2008, deprived the modern American conservative movement of its founder, for Buckley was preeminently the founding statesman of the movement that gained its political expression first in Barry Goldwater and then Ronald Reagan. When Buckley founded National Review in 1955 at the age of 29, he lit the fire that sparked the movement.

Thank Goodness for Libertarian Law Firms
They’re doing a job that others aren’t doing: standing up to executive overreach and winning.

The Entirely Predictable Tragedy of DOGE
It’s hard to disagree with Luther Abel’s conclusion about Elon Musk and L’Affaire DOGE.

Approaching Academic Armageddon
Recent headlines augur hard times for higher ed.

Some Thoughts On Emil Bove’s Third Circuit Nomination
An inane concerted attack on me last week by senior Department of Justice officials foreshadowed Donald Trump’s announcement on Wednesday that he will nominate Emil Bove to a seat on the Third Circuit. Bove has served in the Department of Justice since Inauguration Day, first as acting Deputy Attorney General, then as a top aide to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Along with Blanche, Bove previously represented Trump in various of the criminal prosecutions brought against him. He also worked for nine years as a federal prosecutor.

Did ‘Activist Judges’ Derail Trump’s Tariffs?
No. One of the judges in Wednesday’s unanimous ruling was a Trump ap

Paulo Freire and Learning to Remake Man
In this episode, James takes up the eighth chapter of The Politics of Education, wherein Freire describes what he calls “The Process of Political Literacy.” That is, in this chapter, Freire explains explicitly that political literacy, which is called cultural competence or racial literacy today, should replace the usual, actual literacy in education. Join him to understand how Freire didn’t just Marxify education but made the entire Marxist project of transforming society and man the centerpiece of his educational project.

The RFK Jr. Virus
Walk into any New Age crystal shop in Sedona, Arizona, or a hot-yoga studio in Oakland, California, or maybe a socialist bookshop in Boston, Massachusetts. Look around for the kookiest granola grandma you can find. You know the type. She’ll drive up in a battered Prius with a peeling No Nukes bumper sticker. And she’ll probably be wearing purple sneakers.

So Do Judges Get to Read the President’s Mind or Not?
The president may not be insulated from any judicial review of his motivations.