After a Supreme Court Loss, a New Tariff Appears On February 20, the Supreme Court delivered a major ruling on U.S. trade policy, finding that the administration could not rely on emergency-powers law to impose sweeping global tariffs because Congress had never clearly granted that authority. Within hours of
In January 2026, two people — Alex Pretti and Renée Good — were killed during federal immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis. In Pretti’s case, the Hennepin County medical examiner ruled the death a homicide. Investigative reporting later identified the Customs and Border Protection agents who fired the fatal shots. These deaths
How peaceful protest — and undeniable brutality — are starting to change minds For weeks, Minnesota has been at the center of something the Trump administration hoped to avoid: sustained, peaceful protest colliding with images and facts that are hard to explain away. Federal immigration enforcement has long been controversial. What’s
This week, former Special Counsel Jack Smith appeared before the House Judiciary Committee for the first time since the Justice Department dropped its federal cases against President Donald Trump following his 2024 election victory. The hearing was predictably combative. Republicans framed Smith as a political actor. Democrats framed the moment
When most people hear the word “warrant,” they assume one thing: a judge reviewed the case and gave the government permission to act. That’s how warrants work in the criminal justice system. It’s also how the Constitution is supposed to protect people — especially in their homes. But a
How Broken Immigration Law Turned Civil Enforcement Into Paramilitary Policing America’s immigration debate is often framed as a fight between compassion and enforcement. That framing misses the real problem. What we are witnessing today is not the natural outcome of strict law enforcement—it is the predictable result of
On January 6, 2021, American democracy was meant to break. The United States Capitol had been breached. Windows were smashed. Lawmakers fled through hallways and tunnels. Police officers were beaten. A mob, driven by false claims of a stolen election, roamed the seat of government looking for leverage, trophies, and
Early on January 3, 2026, the United States launched a direct military attack on Venezuela, striking targets in and around Caracas and carrying out a special operations raid that, according to U.S. officials, resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. According to
Why This Argument Keeps Coming Back Part VI of “Why the New Deal Still Matters” Every generation believes its problems are new. The technology changes. The vocabulary shifts. The faces in power rotate. But the underlying argument—about markets, rules, and restraint—keeps resurfacing for the same reason: When the
Same Dynamics, New Technology Part V of “Why the New Deal Still Matters” History rarely repeats itself exactly. It adapts. The modern American economy does not look like the 1920s. We have more technology, more data, more global integration, and far more complex financial systems. But beneath those differences, the
How We Dismantled What Worked Part IV of “Why the New Deal Still Matters” By the late 1970s, the postwar economic model had been so successful that many Americans began to forget why it existed in the first place. For decades, growth had been steady. Financial crises were rare. A
Why the Middle-Class Boom Wasn’t an Accident Part III of “Why the New Deal Still Matters” Critics of the New Deal often argue that even if the reforms were well-intentioned, they didn’t actually work. The postwar boom, they say, was a coincidence—driven by technology, demographics, or America’
The New Deal
Why the New Deal Wasn’t About Bigger Government—but Better Markets Part II of “Why the New Deal Still Matters” By 1933, the argument over whether markets should be “left alone” was already settled—not by theory, but by reality. Banks were failing by the thousands. Credit had frozen.
The New Deal
Before the Fall: When Markets Lost Their Balance Part I of “Why the New Deal Still Matters” The 1920s are often remembered as a golden age of American capitalism—a time of innovation, prosperity, and confidence in the future. And in some ways, that reputation is deserved. Industrial output surged.
Energy
In This Isn’t National Security Policy — It’s Big Oil Policy, we looked at how U.S. actions against Venezuelan oil function less like national security policy and more like oil market enforcement — raising prices and protecting large oil interests in the process. That analysis raises a larger question:
Current Events
Recent U.S. actions against Venezuelan oil shipments are being framed as enforcement and security. But when you step back and look at the results, a different picture emerges. The United States is seizing oil tankers and blocking Venezuelan oil exports. The predictable effect of restricting oil supply is higher
Current Events
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how the U.S. government has been leaning hard on a new “narco-terrorism” story to justify a more aggressive posture toward Venezuela. It’s a narrative built on dramatic language but thin evidence — a story that makes military actions sound like law-enforcement necessities
Current Events
The presidential pardon was designed as a last resort to correct miscarriages of justice — a constitutional safety valve to protect individuals from unfair punishment. It was never intended to be a political reset button for the powerful. Yet that is exactly what happened when Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) received a
Current Events
Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández is serving a 45-year U.S. prison sentence for trafficking massive quantities of cocaine into the United States. The evidence against him was extensive. A New York jury found that Hernández worked with cartels, protected cocaine shipments, and took millions in bribes. In the
Current Events
When the Supreme Court handed down Citizens United v. FEC in 2010, it reshaped American politics in ways most of us are still grappling with. I’ve written before about how the ruling opened the door to unlimited corporate spending in elections and changed the political landscape for the worse.
Current Events
Most people hear the word tariff and imagine a simple tax on imported goods — something that gets paid and forgotten. But behind the scenes, tariffs are governed by a maze of legal rules, agency decisions, and court challenges. And right now, the way those rules work has created a situation
Current Events
If you’ve been watching the news lately, you’ve probably noticed the White House talking a lot about “narco-terrorists” off the coast of Venezuela. It’s been a steady drumbeat: drug-running boats, criminal networks, threats to the homeland. And then you see the scale of the U.S. military
Systems and Shadows
What the Future of Accountable Governance Can Look Like The systems we inherit shape us, but the systems we build can save us. Corruption may be a constant in human history, but so is the instinct to fight it. Every era has faced its own battles between power and integrity,
Systems and Shadows
How Transparency, Accountability, and Civic Courage Revive Failing Systems If corruption is a universal enemy, then accountability is a universal cure — one every society can choose. The first six parts of this series explored systems, shadows, and the cycles that shape nations. But understanding corruption is only half the story.