Author: launchkits

Rejecting American ‘Royalty’

Scroll down for commentary by Sharon Lintner, Joel Postman, Jim McCraw and Hugh Hansen.

Breeding Ground of Hate -- The president has created a breeding ground of hate and in doing so, he has made hate acceptable. We are beginning to see the consequences. 

The hate is escalating, leading some to commit acts of violence. This weekend, that hate left a state representative and her husband dead, a state senator and his wife severely injured. Horrific acts such as these will create fear among those who desire to run for office, allowing their opponents to dominate and win through intimidation.

When I was serving as vice president of our local borough council, my views didn't always line up with my Republican counterparts. One November morning, after the election, I went out to find my white car splattered with red paint. The sight of this frightened not only me, but my neighbors as well. This act of intimidation left me fearing for my physical safety. In spite of this, I finished my four-year term without missing one meeting or one vote, but I will not run again. Fear can paralyze. 

Hate on the national level is filtering down, emboldening local officials and dividing communities. Hate is gaining traction. People say we can change that at the voting booth, but if we can't get honest, sincere candidates due to fear and intimidation then what? --Sharon Lintner 

We’re Not Accustomed to Totalitarian Spectacles, Yet -- Trump's June 14 parade — whether characterized as a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the US Army or as a self-thrown birthday celebration for a nascent dictator — failed to deliver the president's anticipated totalitarian spectacle. We can only hope this is because, unlike in North Korea and Russia, where citizens are accustomed to and accepting of such demonstrations, which are frequent and well-orchestrated, the United States is not yet at a point where these displays are part of everyday life. This was evidenced by the well-attended "No Kings" demonstrations in cities of every size (and political leaning) across the country, and by the willingness of people to speak out against the Trump juggernaut. Let us hope we turn the tide and never reach parity with those states that conduct shows of military force and demonstrations designed to remind citizens of their obligation to unerringly praise and support "dear leader." --Joel Postman

Resistance in The Villages -- The Administration’s recent behaviors in Los Angeles, with the National Guard, the Marines, and ICE, and the Trump/Army birthday parade, were met with the largest demonstration so far in TheVillages, Florida, a well known bastion of MAGA Republicans. The lines of protesters were longer and deeper than ever before, and the variety of signage was spectacular, Our favorite sign of the two-hour demonstration, carefully watched by Sumter County sheriffs and wetted down by irrigation sprinklers, was Elect A Rapist, Expect To Be Fucked. This is the largest retirement community in the country, pushing out toward 170,000 residents, with about 20 percent of them retired military, another big chunk of retired cops, firemen and EMTs and healthcare workers, all concerned about Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, among so many other things. – Jim McCraw

One-Tenth of Small Town -- I was very pleased with, and slightly surprised by, the No Kings demonstration here in our little northern Michigan town. We had about 300 people, or roughly 10% of our official population. We did not chant or call/response, so as to respect the children's trout fishing tournament taking place behind us. The drive-by traffic, heightened because most Michigan schools had let out days earlier, was at least 20 to 1 supportive (I saw two middle fingers, one thumbs-down, and heard one snooty "Nyooo," while scores on into hundreds honked, waved, and gave thumbs up and peace signs). There were people from my Lions Club and other service organizations, my gym, and several of our churches. If only we could have let Trump be president before the election! – Hugh Hansen

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MONDAY 6/16/25

Israel-Iran War, Day 6

A Parade Fit for a King -- “Our soldiers FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT, and they WIN, WIN, WIN,” President Trump said in his speech following the Washington parade celebrating the 250th anniversary of the US Army (and his 79th birthday).

Ready for War? – President Trump is, and so is Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

On Tuesday Trump said he is considering a range of options, including a potential US strike, The Wall Street Journal reports. In another reversal of a campaign promise, the president said on social media that the US knows where Iran’s leader is, but was not choosing to take action, so it’s time for “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” 

The Ayatollah rejected Trump’s demand, The New York Times reports.

“Intelligent people know Iran, the nation and the history of Iran will never speak to this nation in the language of threats, because the Iranian nation cannot be surrendered,” Ali Khamenei said in a televised statement to Iranian state media. “The Americans should know that any US military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage.”

Possibly the only step the US might take now that Trump’s recent attempt to negotiate with Iran over its nuclear capabilities have been blunted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to drop a 30,000-pound GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator “bunker buster” on the Fordow enrichment facility south of Tehran. 

The bunker buster, which can be carried only by a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress can penetrate 200 feet into the ground before exploding, according to Military.com.

•••

No Rest for Undocumented Farmworkers – Or, undocumented hotel and restaurant workers who were given a temporary reprieve last week when President Trump vowed to protect migrants in industries that would face worker shortages if said migrants are deported. 

On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security announced the Trump administration will continue to raid farms, restaurants and hotels to purge undocumented migrant workers, The Washington Post reported. 

Under the surface … According to the WaPo the Trump administration reversal reflects a White House rift between Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who wanted to protect the migrant workers, and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. The all-powerful and influential Miller won, of course.

--TL

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TUESDAY 6/17/25

Trump 86es G7 for Iran Talks – President Trump left Tuesday’s Group of Seven Summit to the other six and flew from Kananaskis, Alberta, back to Washington under cover of darkness, returning before dawn, NPR reports.

“I have to be back as soon as I can,” Trump said, according to Politico. He warned Tehran residents they should leave town, quickly, as Israel continues its attacks on Iran. 

“Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk and they should talk immediately before it’s too late,” Trump said. The president said he wants “better” than a ceasefire – an end to the war just begun last week between Israel and Iran.

On ABC News, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking from an “undisclosed” office-style bunker somewhere in his country told Jonathan Karl; “They’re deliberately targeting our population.”

That was happening as Israel was targeting, to Trump’s point, Iran’s population. 

Netanyahu told Karl on ABC News he is not ruling taking out Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The threat, Netanyahu says, is Iran’s imminent development of a nuclear warhead. Later Monday night, Jon Stewart on Comedy Central’s The Daily Showcatalogued Iran being on the brink of a nuclear weapon with videos of Netanyahu describing such an “imminent threat” … since 2012 (the boy-called-wolf situation may be closer to reality, this time).

MAGA divide … Not used to seeing these two words together? Neither are (the editorial) We. 

Politico reports of a split in the Trump coalition, between GOP hawks who have long called for a tougher approach on Iran – the imminent nuclear weapons argument – and the “resistance” wing including Steve Bannon, podcaster Ben Shapiro and ex-Fox News-turned Useful Idiot Tucker Carlson.

Worth repeating … Trump, Politico reports, Truth Socialed this: “Someone please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON.”

Deal, no deal? … On Monday, Trump made an appearance at the G7 with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, where the president announced a partial trade deal with the EU – that’s European Union, not United Kingdom – and dropped the deal’s papers, letting Starmer pick them up, according to the Express (UK). 

The US-UK “deal” – yes, that’s exactly what it is – outlines a cut in tariffs on UK-built autos from 25% to 10% and on British aerospace parts, the BBC reports, but does not offer relief on British steel tariffs.

“We’re going to let you have that information in a little while,” Trump said.

•••

Federal Charges for Boelter – The Hennepin County district attorney will pursue first-degree murder charges against Vance Boelter, who has been charged with six federal offenses in the killing of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and the shooting of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, the Minnesota Reformer reports. 

Federal charges against Boelter include stalking, murder and firearms charges. Authorities say he also visited two other state legislators early Saturday, who were left unharmed. John and Yvette Hoffman are reported to be headed for recovery.

•••

Purdue Settlement – A settlement between Purdue Pharma and members of its controlling Sackler family of $7.4 billion is a good deal for the company and family when considering how many lives Purdue’s opioid-pushing has affected, but many of the individuals involved are reported to want to finally put the issue to rest. That $7.4 billion settlement has been reached with all 50 states and US territories, NPR’s Morning Edition reports.

--TL

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MONDAY 6/16/25

About the Crowds – How many people took to the streets of Washington to watch the military parade celebrating the US Army’s 250th anniversary, and, um, coincidentally, President Trump’s 79th birthday, Saturday? 

No estimates were immediately forthcoming. Perhaps whatever is left of the National Park Service was reluctant to make a 2017 inauguration-like guess. 

Most of Trump’s cabinet was there, though few congressional Republicans showed up, The Hill reports. 

The Army’s numbers included 6,600 soldiers, 150 military vehicles and 50 helicopters, according to Washingtonian magazine, which reports the crowd viewing all this “fell short of predictions, and at D.C.’s main counterprotest, the ratio of journalists to protestors was excessive.”

The Newsmax-esque pro-Trump Washington Examiner declared the gala a success, reporting that the parade turned out “thousands despite weather and nationwide protests.”

No Kings … But there was no organized No Kings anti-fascist protest planned for Washington, anyway. The New York Timesreports of big turnouts even in erstwhile pro-MAGA strongholds such as Dallas, three dozen rural areas in Indiana, where Trump won the 2024 election by 19 points, and Waukesha, Wisconsin, where “about 1,500 people marched through the streets in an area Mr. Trump had won with 59% of the vote.”

[See comments in the left column for anecdotes about protests in an erstwhile Republican stronghold and a small town in the Great Lakes region.]

The Independent cast a shadow of a doubt on Trump White House claims that 250,000 watched (it was telecast in its entirety on Fox News, by the way) while citing “experts” estimates that at least 4 million people attended No Kings protests across the nation, more than 1% of the US population. 

Meanwhile, there were “empty bleachers” and “gaps in the crowd” according to The Indepndent, whose reporter, Richard Hall, described it as “something close to a medium-sized town’s July 4th celebration.”

Fatality … Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, 39, described as an “innocent bystander” in a Salt Lake City No Kings protest estimated at 10,000 marchers, was fatally shot Saturday evening after police officers shouted out “gunman” and “man with a rifle” at the march, The Salt Lake Tribune reports. Suspect in custody is Arturo Gamboa, 24.

Retribution? … About the time Trump was on his way to the Canadian Rockies in Alberta for the annual two-day Group of Seven Summit, he announced he had directed federal immigration officials to make deportations of undocumented immigrants from Democratic-run cities their priority, The Associated Press reports.

Officials “must expand efforts to detain and deport illegal aliens in America’s largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside,” Trump said Sunday in a social media post, in case all that extraneous capitalization didn’t give the outlet away.

Monday morning Trump was to hold his first meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney since their early May White House confab, The Globe and Mail reports, to “make progress” in resolving the “damaging” three-month trade war between the two countries.

Meanwhile … The Trump administration has told Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to “largely” pause its raids and arrests of allegedly undocumented aliens working in hotels, restaurants and in agriculture, according to an internal email obtained by The New York Times. [See Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s “The Damage Is Being Dumb,” in the right column.]

•••

Arrest in Minnesota – Vance Boelter, 57, suspect in the fatal shooting of the state legislature’s House Democratic-Farmer-Leader Party leader Melissa Hoffman, and her husband Mark, and the wounding of State Sen. John A. Hoffman and his wife, Yvette in separate attacks early Saturday, was arrested just before 11 p.m. Central time Sunday night, Minnesota Public Radio reports. Police chief of Brooklyn Park, the suburb where the Hoffman’s were shot, Mark Bruley, called the manhunt for Boelter largest in state history. 

Meanwhile, The Minneapolis Star Tribune is debunking online conspiracy theories that Gov. Tim Walz, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ running mate last year, has “close ties” to the suspect. Rather, Walz reappointed Boelter to a bipartisan advisory board in 2019, but a friend of the suspect has called him a strong Trump supporter.

[Email your COMMENTS on this center column news/aggregate/analysis and/or left- and right-column commentaries to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings in the subject line, so we may post your comments in the appropriate column.]

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 6/16/25

The Damage Is Being Dumb

Commentary by Stephen Macaulay

Donald Trump told reporters on Thursday June 12, “Our farmers are being hurt badly by, you know, they have very good workers. They’ve worked them for 20 years.

“They’re not citizens, but they’ve turned out to be, you know, great. And we’re going to have to do something about that.”

He pointed out, “We can’t take farmers and take all their people and send them back because they don’t have maybe what they’re supposed to have, maybe not.”

While the near-incomprehensible utterances are startling — evidently he missed the “subject-verb-object” portion of his early education — what he was talking about was the situation regarding undocumented migrant farm workers — those people he has ordered ICE to deport.

According to study by the US Dept. of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (which has probably been DOGEd, because who needs facts?):

“The share of hired crop farmworkers who were not legally authorized to work in the United States grew from roughly 14% in 1989–91 to almost 55% in 1999–2001; in recent years it has declined to about 40%.”

The study found that in 2022 the number of crop farm workers with “no work authorization” (i.e., undocumented farm workers) was 42%.

That number of people simply isn’t going to be prest-o-change-o replaced by those who have lost their jobs due to manufacturing plants closing in the US.

Given the magnitude of that number you would have imagined that someone in the Trump Administration would have figured that rounding those people up and sending them somewhere beyond the southern border probably wouldn’t be a particularly good idea.

But that just shows how out of touch Team Trump is when it comes to people actually doing work. 

Let’s remember Trump saying back in April when he signed an executive order in support of coal mining: “One thing I learned about the coal miners is that’s what they want to do.

“You could give them a penthouse on Fifth Avenue and a different kind of a job and they’d be unhappy. They want to mine coal, that’s what they love to do.”

While I have mined as much coal as Trump has (none), I’ve been a janitor, a dishwasher, and picked up trash in a parking lot with a nail on the end of a stick and I can tell you that when I got a different kind of job I was very happy. Those coal miners probably love a paycheck more than they love mining coal and would be perfectly happy living in a penthouse doing something else to earn money in ways not associated with cave-ins, explosions, and black lung disease.

Trump’s comment is like his Commerce Secretary-billionaire Howard Lutnick saying, “Let’s say Social Security didn’t send out their checks this month, my mother-in-law — who’s 94 — she wouldn’t call and complain.”

Arguably she could get good loan terms from her son-in-law.

Back to Trump’s comments about the undocumented migrant workers.

He admitted that some of them have “been there for 20, 25 years and they’ve worked great. And the owner of the farm loves them.”

But: “And then you’re supposed to throw them out. . .” — Well, isn’t that what he said is supposed to happen? This is his idea, not someone else’s. Not the farmers’, certainly -- “. . .and you know what happens? They end up hiring the people, the criminals that have come in, the murderers from prisons and everything else.”

Think on that for a moment. No, not the “and everything else,” which is inexplicable. But the whole notion that the “murderers from prisons,” whom Trump has described in many instances as being the worst of the worst, likely insane, drug-addled and otherwise bad, are going to the Central Valley to pick tomatoes.

Again, evidence that there is little understanding of how the real world works. And I do mean “works.”

Another example of this is the necessity of rehiring people DOGE thought were unnecessary. 

According to a story earlier this month in The Washington Post: 

“Trump officials are trying to recover not only people who were fired, but also thousands of experienced senior staffers who are opting for a voluntary exit as the administration rolls out a second resignation offer. . . .

“A Post review found recent messy re-hirings at agencies including the Food and Drug Administration, the IRS, the State Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In some cases, the government is posting new online job listings very similar to positions it recently vacated. . . .

“In February, the Agriculture Department launched a campaign to rehire bird flu response workers after avian influenza sent egg prices soaring. That same month, the Trump administration fired nearly 17% of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s workforce, temporarily imperiling the safety and security of America’s 5,000 nuclear warheads — before hiring them back after an outcry. . . .”

Clever, eh?

If there is any evidence of “waste, fraud and abuse,” it is primarily in what DOGE has done. Ask anyone who works in human resources and they’ll tell you it costs a hell of a lot more to hire someone than it does to keep someone.

And there are the tariffs. Remember back in April when Team Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro said, “So we’re going to run 90 deals in 90 days. It’s possible.”

Turns out those possibilities weren’t so good. How many “deals” have there been in 74 days?

One. (The UK. This is not counting the fuzzy claim of a deal with China. Just like everything having to do with Liberation Day there is a whole lot of bluster and little in the way of evidence.)

Trade negotiations are complex undertakings by people who have serious understandings of the implications and ramifications of tax policies on their countries.

This is not to go down the path of saying that Trump “chickens out.”

It is to say that Team Trump is mainly incapable of doing things that are hard. It is easy to whip out an oversized Sharpie and sign and executive order. It is something entirely else to structure and implement a useful policy.

Trump was going to end the war against Ukraine in 24 hours after taking office.

Nope.

Trump claimed he would put an end to the war in Gaza.

Not only has that not happened, but now there is a war between Israel and Iran.

What has he done on that front except bluster on his blog?

And so there is the “No Kings” pushback against Trump.

He probably likes the notion that he is being considered a king by those who don’t like him.

Yes, he is consistently overreaching the bounds — legal and traditional (funny thing how the so-called conservatives who don’t realize that, as Russell Kirk wrote, “the conservative adheres to custom, convention, and continuity,” something they’ve cast off with reckless abandon) — of the Office of the President.

But arguably this isn’t as much because of some sort of monarchial mania as it is simply that he doesn’t understand things, despite the fact that he claims that during a recent cognitive test he “got every answer right” and that "One of the doctors said, 'Sir, I've never seen anybody get that kind of — that was the highest mark.'" Right. No one else has ever aced the Montreal Cognitive Assessment.

While some may dismiss that claim as simply being silly, it is part and parcel of everything he does in office.

If he wasn’t 79 you might imagine he’s not unlike one of those boy kings who achieved the throne before they hit puberty. They don’t know what they’re doing, but they’ve got the gig. 

He’s big on claims. Not so big on getting things done that matters in ways that aren’t performative. 

The problem is that the consequences of his actions damage the people he has sworn to protect.

Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings.

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MONDAY 6/16/25

What’s Left

Is an Israeli-Iranian war inevitable? How will the Trump administration respond? Email your COMMENTS to editors@thehustings.news and if you lean left, please say so in the subject line so we post your opinions in this column.

Scroll down this column to read contributing pundit Kate McLeod’s reaction to Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s commentary on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is in the corresponding right column. You are more than welcome to react as well.

Be sure to scroll down further for comments on the Musk-Trump split by left-column contributing pundits Jerry Lanson, Sharon Lintner, Hugh Hansen, Joel Postman and Jim McCraw. 

Three Lanson commentaries fill out the rest of this column’s page; “Ice’s Menacing Roundups Rachet Up,” “Behind the Headlines” (on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act) and “Who Will Stand? Who Will Lead?”, on what Lanson says is a Trump administration attack on civil rights.

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FRIDAY 6/13/25

Israel Hits Iran’s Nukes

Israeli Military Hits Iranian Nukes – The Israeli military says it struck dozens of targets, including nuclear facilities, in Iran, stoking fears of an all-out war. Two Iranian nuclear scientists named in the strike were subjects of international sanctions, according to Haaretz, which reports that Iran’s FARS news agency has confirmed several top military officials were killed, including Iranian Army Chief of Staff Mohammad Baqeri.

Iran was reportedly in the process of quickly building up its nuclear capabilities and announced it had built and would activate its third nuclear enrichment facility, The Associated Press reports, after a United Nations watchdog censured Iran for failing to comply with its nonproliferation obligations.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, you might recall, found Iran was complying with restrictions on its nuclear development from the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action negotiated by then-presidents Barack Obama and Hassan Rouhani. 

Donald J. Trump in 2016 campaigned hard against the JCPOA and quickly dismantled it when he took office in 2017. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's (above) right-wing government has opposed the JCPOA all along.

In his second term Trump has sought a deal with Iran, and recently tried to warn off his erstwhile ally Netanyahu from starting war with Iran. A day before Netanyahu defied Trump, the US president warned that such an attack was imminent, according to Politico.

Now an Iranian counterattack seems likely, if not immediate. Trump will no longer be able to claim he never starts wars – only ends them (even if he finds a way to blame the Biden administration), and Netanyahu, even after defying Trump’s demand not to attack, will expect military assistance. 

Iran also expects as much. Its foreign ministry has said that as Isreal’s “main supporter,” the US will be responsible for the consequences of “Israel’s adventurism” (per AP).

We – meaning the US – expect as much. 

After Israel’s attacks on Iran began, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement (per The New York Times), “We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region. Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for self-defense.”

•••

National Guard is California’s – The Trump administration illegally federalized the California National Guard in response to anti-deportation protests in Los Angeles, and control must be returned to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) “forthwith,” US District Judge Charles Breyer ruled Thursday. But Breyer’s 36-page order was put on hold to at least Tuesday by the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals following the administration’s immediate filing for appeal, The Wall Street Journal reports. 

The Trump administration’s “actions were illegal,” Breyer wrote, “both exceeding the scope of his authority and violating the 10thAmendment to the United States Constitution.”

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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FRIDAY 6/13/25

What’s Right

Is an Israeli-Iranian war inevitable? How will the Trump administration get involved? Email your COMMENTS to editors@thehustings.news and if you lean right, please say so in the subject line so we post your opinions in this column.

Scroll down for Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s commentary on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (spoiler alert: he doesn’t think the huge deficits it will cause are very conservative).

Be sure to scroll down further in the right column for pro-MAGA contributing pundit Rich Corbett’s take on the Musk-Trump split, “The Pro-Republican Perspective on Recent Developments.” 

Macaulay’s not-so-MAGA take on the same issue, “Trump v. Musk: Another Diversion” is filed in The Gray Area.

More Macaulay fill out the rest of the right column on this page; “Maybe Bidenomics Wasn’t So Bad After All,” “Great This Ain’t” and “Born in the U.S.A.”

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FRIDAY 6/13/25

On Big Beautiful Bill

In which a contributing pundit comments Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s commentary on the Big Beautiful Bill Act, which first appeared on our Substack page…

Ill Wind: It is almost impossible to figure out what these individuals "STAND FOR". They're like fuzzy dandelion puffs in the wind. And the wind is coming from -- I believe I don't need to finish that sentence.

--Kate McLeod

Email your COMMENTS on Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s “If You Like Massive Deficits, You’ll Love OBBB,” and/or contributing pundit Kate McLeod’s response … or President Trump’s response to anti-deportation protests in Los Angeles and other cities, the Musk-Trump tiff, or any other recent issues, to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings in the subject line.

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WEDNESDAY 6/11/25

CPI for May Ticks Up to +2.4%

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.1% in May, for an annual rate of +2.4%, versus +2.3% in April, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. Food and shelter prices are up 2.9% for the year while energy prices have fallen 3.5%. [CHART: Bureau of Labor Statistics]

Vaxxed Out – Two days after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed all 17 prior members, he named eight new choices for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Wednesday, including prominent anti-vaxxers (The Wall Street Journal). The committee makes vaccine recommendations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including when and how often children and adults should receive them. Kennedy says the new committee would review existing vaccine recommendations as well as make new ones. 

“All of these individuals are committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense,” Kennedy posted on X-Twitter.

Kennedy had promised not to pick “ideological antivaxxers” for the committee.

•••

Stuck in the Middle of G7 – President Trump’s isolationist international policy is pushing four “middle powers” among the Group of Seven nations as allies together over such items as trade deals, joint sanctions against Israel and military agreements, while distancing themselves from the orbit of the United States, according to The New York Times. 

Those four middle powers are the United Kingdom, France, Canada and Japan. That leaves the US, Italy and Germany outside that informal alliance. 

All seven meet as the G7 in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada Sunday through Tuesday. (This was the G8 until Russia was expelled for its invasion of Crimea in 2014.) We’ll likely to learn more about trade deals, sanctions against Israel and military agreements from closing news conferences, traditionally on the last day.

--TL

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WEDNESDAY 6/11/25

‘Fanning the Flames’? – California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) accused President Trump of “fanning the flames” and “traumatizing our communities purposely” in calling in the National Guard and the Marines to suppress protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Los Angeles, where Mayor Karen Bass imposed a curfew Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Times reports. 

Bass’ curfew ran from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning for a one-square-mile portion of downtown L.A., NPR reports.

Meanwhile, ICE has expanded its immigrant raids into California’s agricultural heartland (which is much more conservative than coastal areas in the state). Still no word of whether there are ICE crackdowns on employers who have hired undocumented aliens.

TikTok target … The “world’s most popular TikTok star,” Khaby Lame, quickly left the US after immigration agents detained him in Las Vegas for overstaying his visa, which expired April 22, The Associated Press reports. The Senagalese-Italian influencer was detained at Harry Reid International Airport but was allowed to leave the US without a deportation order, which could have prevented him from being allowed back into the country for up to a decade.

Protests in your city? … Newsweek has published a list of cities where deportation protests are happening or are expected in the coming days. In addition to Los Angeles, New York City, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, where protests have been going on for days, there’s Burlington, Vermont, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, Portland, Oregon and Sacramento, California.

•••

Is There a Taylor Swift Song for This? – Perhaps Elon Musk is worried about SpaceX federal contracts or whether Tesla will be able to offer driverless Robotaxis in all 50 states. Perhaps he doesn’t want President Trump to sell his Tesla Model S at a price that brings down the car’s residual values.

Whatever the case, Musk took to his X-Twitter at 3:40 a.m. Eastern Time Wednesday to apologize for some of his criticisms of the Trump administration (last year he contributed more than $275 million to the president’s campaign), according to Axios, which notes that the ex-Big DOGE did not specify precisely which comments were the subject of his apology. 

“They went too far,” Musk tweeted.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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WEDNESDAY 6/11/25

If You Like Massive Deficits, You’ll Love OBBB

Commentary by Stephen Macaulay

One of the arguments that is made on behalf of the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) Act is that if we go back to the 2017 Trump tax cuts, there were improvements in both employment and the level of GDP growth. 

While this is certainly the case, that is only part of the picture.

Those tax cuts added $1.5 trillion to $1.8 trillion to the federal deficit. In other words, they added to the debt in a non-trivial way.

And so what will happen if the OBBB passed by the House makes it through the Senate, where it is modified around the edges, and is signed into law?

According to the non-partisan Tax Foundation, which has been looking at taxes for 85 years, if the expiring 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) measures are extended, which is an objective of the OBBB, “Long-run GDP would be 1.1% higher.”

Huzzah!

Except for something else. (And I don’t mean the tariffs, which are expected to decrease US GDP growth, so that’s a whole other issue of an unwillingness to look at figures.)

The Tax Foundation reckons the TCJA extension “would decrease federal tax revenue by $4.5 trillion from 2025 through 2034.”

And of that figure, the 1.1% GDP increase would offset “$710 billion, or 16%, of the revenue losses.”

That means $3.79 trillion in the hole. That’s $421 billion for each of the nine years.

Now there is something else about taxes that need to be taken into account.

Thanks to the clever boots of DOGE, some 11% of the workforce of the IRS were eliminated. According to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the biggest hit was to tax auditors: 31% of the revenue agents got the axe or otherwise left. DOGE plans to eliminate up to 40% of IRS employees by year’s end.

Let’s not be naïve about this. Tax auditors look for discrepancies in tax returns. Certainly, some of those are simple mistakes. And some of them are, well, deliberate efforts made to keep from paying what is due, a.k.a., cheating.

If Bob, who works at Home Depot in the lumber department, or Betty, who operates a three-chair salon, gets audited, odds are the amounts of money involved are the stuff of Optima Tax Relief commercials.

The real money is in the complicated filings of individuals and corporations who can provide demi-serious and absolutely serious monies to the federal coffers.

But by minimizing the number of IRS auditors, the likelihood of those monies being collected is reduced. 

Realize the auditors earn an average $93,000 and the return on investment for that is probably a solid multiple, especially for those who can analyze the complicated cases.

So we will have reduced revenues coming into the government and a reduced number of people whose job it is to make sure the monies that are owed makes it to the government.

It used to be that Republicans cared about things like deficits and making sure that people paid their fair share.

Now it seems that they are dazzled by the promise of a Golden Age without having the slightest notion of how that’s achieved in the real world.

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WEDNESDAY 6/11/25

What’s Left of Musk v. Trump Spat

Scroll down this column for comments by contributing pundits Jerry Lanson, Sharon Lintner, Hugh Hansen, Joel Postman and Jim McCraw. Submit your COMMENTS to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings in the subject line.

Short-Lived Distraction: I consider the Musk-Trump schism a short-lived distraction. I won't play conspiracy theorist, but I don't believe it will last and I'm curious whether it is contrived. In the meantime, the traditional media are distracted from examining Trump's big bill, which is filled with horrible stuff, or from explaining it to the public at large. 

People may know that it will eliminate health insurance for 10.7 million Americans on Medicaid over the next decade.  They likely don't know it will sharply curtail Pell grants, which help enable 40% of college students to seek higher education. Even as college costs keep climbing, the bill and Trump's proposed budget will cut Pell grants by nearly 25% of their current maximum of $7,395.  

The bill also will eliminate food stamps for millions of individuals and families.

And there is much more tucked away in its pages, including constraining the courts, a co-equal branch of government, from holding people in contempt of court if they ignore court rulings.

Now there are calls in the Senate for even more cuts so that the bill won't balloon the deficit by $2.4 trillion to provide big, permanent tax cuts for the mega-rich.  Suddenly cuts to Medicare, the health insurance for everyone over age 65, is being discussed.

So while the Trump-Musk circus plays out to everyone's entertainment, we are in the process of crushing average Americans and older Americans to further enrich billionaires. Alas, tens of millions of Americans -- including many Trump supporters -- won't know what hit them until long after the bill is passed.  Then the pain will set in but it will be too late.

Republicans were clever to call this the Big Beautiful Bill. It has stuck. Actually, it's the Big Hideous, Horrible bill. --Jerry Lanson

Brakes on BBB: The Trump- Musk feud might become the brakes that stop the "Big, Beautiful Bill." After his fiasco at the DOGE, maybe, just maybe, Musk can finally be of some help to the people. Perhaps he carries enough influence to persuade others to have the courage to vote against this "Big, Bad Bill." It looks like the infighting is off to a vicious start, let the unraveling begin! --Sharon Lintner 

Liking the Break-Up: I'd be pleased with a permanent break, though I'm taking deep breaths rather than holding mine. While neither of these men have a stable-enough personality to make their future relationship predictable, Trump's base has been more steadfast than the tech bro bunch. --Hugh Hansen

Musk Must Turn: It is my fervent hope that Elon Musk turns completely on MAGA and Trump, calls for his impeachment, then funds only Democrats in dozens of close House races so that we can get rid of Trump, Hegseth, Bondi, Patel, and the rest of the Trump Gang for ever and ever. I have never in my life seen this level of bald-faced presidential corruption and blackmail while the Supreme Court sits on it well-manicured hands and lets him get away with it. Every day. And the idea of that fat orange punk having a parade for himself makes my stomach turn. --Jim McCraw

Musk Becomes Villain for Trump: The feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump is likely to endure, with little political impact. 

The conflict quickly degraded from one of ideological differences to a street fight. While Musk initiated the dispute, he will become another convenient hip-pocket bogeyman for Trump. Like Bezos, Hillary Clinton, or DeSantis, he’s someone Trump can attack to energize his base and show he’s out there fighting elites, liberals, Dems, and so on. 

Trump has shown no inclination to walk back his attacks. Musk in the meantime is no stranger to conflict and outrageousness. Both men benefit from the spectacle. Expect it to continue, but to become increasingly meaningless. --Joel Postman

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MONDAY 6/9/25

Free Fallin’

Elon Musk and Donald J. Trump in better times -- three months ago -- as the president buys a Tesla Model S. [White House photo] Read comments on the Trump-Musk breakup in the left and right columns, and in The Gray Area where Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay weighs in. Email your comments to editors@thehustings.news.

TUESDAY 6/10/25

Marines Invade L.A. – Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has deployed 700 US Marines to Los Angeles to suppress protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in search of undocumented aliens at local businesses, the Los Angeles Times reports, while the White House has sent an additional 2,000 National Guard troops there (AP). The confrontation is a clash between President Trump as he flexes authoritarian powers, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, both Democrats. 

As deployment of the Marines and National Guard make for good video on Fox News, Trump administration critics are comparing his reaction here to his reluctance to deploy the National Guard to the Capitol during the January 6 insurrection. Guard troops arrived about 5:40 p.m. that day, after most of the crowd had dispersed, according to FactCheck.org.

Marines and the National Guard are in L.A. ostensibly to protect federal buildings and ICE officials from potentially “violent” protestors despite that the city has nearly 7,000 uniformed Los Angeles Police Department officers, according to The Atlantic Daily. There are 75,000 uniformed personnel in California’s state, county and local law enforcement agencies.

Mayor Bass called deployment of the Marines and National Guard a “deliberate attempt” by the Trump administration to “create disorder and chaos in our city,” The Associated Press reports. 

Trump said on social media Tuesday morning that L.A. would “burn to the ground” without the troops, NPR reports. 

Gov. Newsom responded to Trump administration’s threats to have him arrested along with Bass in an interview with Politicosaying, “It’s just an extraordinary moment, and I don’t want to overstate it, but these are the words of an authoritarian. Whether he acts on it or not, the chill that creates is real, and it’s a serious moment, very serious.”

On Friday, David Huerta, described as the “beloved” president of Service Employees International Union-United Service Workers West, was arrested at a worksite where he was reportedly serving as a community observer, Axios reports, and now faces potential federal charges.

--TL

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MONDAY 6/9/25

Newsom Sues Trump – California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) says he will sue the Trump administration over the president’s deployment of the National Guard to suppress protests in Los Angeles against federal immigration raids, The Hill reports Monday. Trump said in a memo to the Defense Department and the Department of Homeland Security he is invoking Title 10 to “temporarily protect ICE and other United States Government personnel who are performing Federal functions,” according to the Los Angeles Times. 

Under Title 10, the president can activate National Guard troops for federal services, such as ICE – the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. On Friday, ICE agents made arrests in L.A.’s garment district, including Ambiance Apparel, and detained employees inside the clothing wholesaler, the LA Times reports. This triggered protests through the weekend, which prompted the Trump White House to deploy National Guard troops into downtown Los Angeles. Trump’s memo cited “numerous incidents of violence and disorder” and said federal immigration detention facilities have been threatened.

Management? ... While undocumented workers at Ambiance Apparel apparently have been arrested, there are no reports so far of any arrests regarding employers who allegedly hired said employees.

Call in the Marines? … Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned in a post on X-Twitter that “if violence continues, active-duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized – they are on high alert.”

No easy resolution … This clash could be from the elevator pitch for the Hollywood script of a story about a president who is cracking down on illegal immigrants, as he had promised in his campaign, and the “woke” governor who almost certainly will run for president in 2028, climaxing with the White House calling in the Marines.

On MSNBC Sunday night, Newsom told NBC News’ Jacob Soboroff that Trump “has created the crisis. Fox News on Monday reports a conservative social media backlash against Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA), a native of Guatemala who became a US citizen in the 1990s, after she posted on TikTok, “ICE get the f--- out of LA so that order can be restored.” --Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 6/9/25

Right Path After the Musk-Trump Spat

Scroll down this column for the pro-GOP perspective by Rich Corbett. Do not miss Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s much different take, “Trump v. Musk: Another Diversion” in The Gray Area. Submit your COMMENTS to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings in the subject line.

The Pro-Republican Perspective on Recent Developments: The recent public spat between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk over the "One Big Beautiful Bill" has been overblown and is already fading. Their disagreement, largely centered on Musk’s concerns about the bill’s deficit impact, is a minor hiccup in the grand scheme of Republican priorities. 

Trump and Musk, both larger-than-life figures, share a commitment to advancing America’s economic strength, and this temporary rift is unlikely to derail their broader alignment. Reports indicate Trump is already negotiating adjustments to the bill, showing his willingness to bridge differences while keeping his "America First" agenda intact. The feud is a distraction — Republican unity remains strong, and Musk’s influence, while notable, won’t overshadow the party’s momentum.

On the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scoring of the "One Big Beautiful Bill," Republicans are right to question its projections. The CBO’s estimate of a $2.4 trillion to $3.8 trillion deficit increase may fail to account for the dynamic economic growth spurred by tax cuts, much like it underestimated the benefits of Trump’s 2017 tax reforms. Those cuts fueled job creation and GDP growth, proving that lower taxes can stimulate revenue through economic expansion. Republicans argue the current bill’s tax cuts, including extensions of the 2017 provisions and new breaks on tips and overtime, will similarly drive prosperity, offsetting projected deficits. The CBO’s static models often miss this bigger picture, and GOP lawmakers are justified in prioritizing growth over pessimistic forecasts.

As the bill moves through the Senate, there’s hope among fiscal conservatives for a compromise that includes deeper tax cuts to further stimulate the economy. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has signaled openness to strengthening the legislation, potentially incorporating additional reductions favored by fiscal hawks like Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Ron Johnson (R-WI). These conservatives rightly push for policies that curb government overreach and empower businesses and individuals through lower taxes. With a slim 53-47 Senate majority, Republicans have room to refine the bill, balancing Trump’s vision with demands for fiscal discipline. A compromise that amplifies tax cuts while addressing deficit concerns would be a win for the GOP’s pro-growth, limited-government principles. Here’s hoping the Senate delivers. --Rich Corbett

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MONDAY 6/9/25

ICE’s Menacing Roundups Rachet Up

Commentary by Jerry Lanson

The Trump Administration wants to arrest a minimum of 3,000 immigrants a day, a senior advisor told Fox News. That, according to The New York Times is nearly five times the average of 660 people arrested (and in many cases abducted) in the administration’s first 100 days.

The news, announced by Trump anti-immigration guru Stephen Miller, came as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) this week underwent its third major change in top management and the day before the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to evoke the temporary legal status of 530,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

It also came in a week marked by dozens of arrests of working immigrants and parents on Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, a boat ride from our Cape Cod home. And it came as ICE agents across the country attempted to gather records of school-age children and began arresting immigrants as they enter or leave immigration hearings, the NYT reported.

When Donald Trump took office, his administration initially said it would focus on arresting and deporting immigrants with criminal records. But the overwhelming share of arrests in my area appear to be of hard-working, peaceful family members picked up at job sites or on their way to and from work. I suspect the same is true elsewhere.

A couple of weeks ago, a young man who co-owned a painting company, who lived in this country for years and who reportedly had no criminal past was abducted in his own apartment in West Falmouth, Massachusetts. The arresting agents did not identify themselves and showed no warrant. Earlier this week, after federal agents fanned out over Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, the owner of a Rhode Island electrical contractor told The Boston Globe that workers, including two of his, had been stopped and intimidated at a random Vineyard roadblock.

“They treat the guys like criminals,” Thiago Alves told the Globe. “It was terrible because my guys got stopped for no reason … They had one car behind my guys and one in front.”

Alves’ men have pending green card applications, but were nonetheless among the lucky ones. They were released in a dragnet that sent some 40 immigrants in handcuffs to the mainland.

Stories like these will only increase as the Trump administration pressures ICE and other federal agents to meet rising arrest quotas. Among those picked up in my area likely will be farm workers, painters, home builders, masons, landscapers, waiters, cooks, housekeepers and elder-care providers. Together, they provide much of the backbone of Cape Cod. They also are our neighbors and their indiscriminate arrests have sent a ripple of fear not only through immigrant communities but also through the community at large.

I’ve heard stories of immigrant families with green cards who do nothing beyond go to work and return home. Some students are staying home from school. Some employees are too afraid to appear at their jobs. The New York Times reported May 8 that undocumented immigrants who’ve been assaulted or have diabetes or high-risk pregnancies are not going to the doctor because they are afraid of being arrested.

Nationwide, a handful of high-profile cases have captured public attention. Best known, perhaps, is the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland father mistakenly arrested and deported to El Salvador, where months later he remains in a notorious prison-of-no-return despite the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling that the US should “facilitate” his return. The Trump Administration has ignored this decision.

Equally high-profile are the cases of Mahmoud Khalil, a green-card holder and Columbia University graduate student detained for months in a Louisiana ICE Detention Center because of his role in peaceful pro-Palestinian protests on that campus and of Russian-born, Harvard University researcher Kseniia Petrova, arrested at Logan Airport when she brought undeclared frog embryos from France in her luggage. She, too, remains in Louisiana.

Less high-profile cases surface and disappear or don’t crack the news at all.

Take Fabian Schmitt. On March 7, the 34-year-old German national, who has lived in the United States for nearly 20 years, was detained and then vanished at Logan Airport in Boston after returning from a visit to his parents. A week or two later, news organizations covered his allegations that he had been subjected to severe interrogation, strip-searched and thrown into a cold shower at the airport. But the story of Schmitt then vanished although Schmitt was only released from a Rhode Island prison May 8 after 62 days behind bars. He apparently had pleaded guilty in California a decade ago to a misdemeanor charge of possession of a controlled substance.

In at least two cases in Massachusetts, videos have shown ICE agents smashing the car windows of immigrants to arrest them instead of providing signed warrants. Yet despite this drumbeat of abusive and often masked abductions, elected Democrats, in my state and others, have too often stood by mute or limited themselves to sporadic statements of disapproval.

Let’s hope that is beginning to change.

In Virginia, US Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner released a press release May 23 demanding that ICE agents follow Homeland Security regulations “requiring law enforcement to properly identify themselves and limit use of face-coverings during official operations.”

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey called the Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard raids earlier this week “disturbing,” according to The Boston Globe. She added that, “there have been real questions raised about due process and whether or not ICE and immigration officials are following, complying with due process here and in other states.”

Julian Cyr, a state senator representing part of the Cape and Islands, added in a statement, “This kind of sweeping action has serious consequences. It has left families in fear, disrupted businesses of all kinds and sent a chilling message to many residents who have lived, worked and contributed to island life for years.”

Let us hope we can consider this a good start, albeit a late one. I would urge both chambers of our Massachusetts State Legislature, Gov. Healey, and the state’s entire congressional delegation to condemn ICE’s methods formally and in tandem and to demand adherence to the rule of law going forward.

As my hometown newspaper, The Enterprise of Falmouth, Massachusetts, wrote in an editorial published Friday, May 30: “Something must be done expeditiously to protect the residents of the commonwealth from a summer of ever-present panic and repeated raids, and we are calling on our elected officials to act now and protect their constituents.”

Now and every day going forward.

This column originally appeared in Lanson’s From the Grassroots Substack. Reposted by permission of the author.

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MONDAY 6/2/25

US Economy Adds 139k Jobs in May

In the midst of all the Trump administration's economic upheaval and controversial policies, employment numbers remain strong as the US economy added 139,000 jobs in May, the Labor Department reports. Health care, leisure and hospitality and social assistance job gains remained strong while not surprisingly, the federal government continued to lose jobs. [Chart: Bureau of Labor Statistics]

FRIDAY 6/6/25

Would You Buy a Used Tesla from the President? – President Trump is considering whether to sell or give away the red Tesla Model S he purchased in March as part of a photo op that turned the White House driveway into a sales lot for Elon Musk’s EV brand, The Wall Street Journal reports. But no phone call is scheduled between Trump and Musk to try and reconcile after Thursday’s huge breakup over the House Big Beautiful budget bill. 

Meanwhile… Stock futures are up Friday morning in Tesla after it had its worst day ever Thursday, when it fell more than 14% and lost more than $100 billion in market cap in four hours, NPR reports.

•Contributing Pundit Jerry Lanson writes about ICE’s “menacing” immigrant arrests in the left column, as Pundit-at-Large Stephan Macaulay reconsiders Bidenomics in the right column.

•Whether you are pro-Trump or anti-Trump, we welcome your reaction to these commentaries. Email editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings in the subject line.

--TL

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Abominable Bill?

THURSDAY 6/5/25

Can Musk Kill Bill? – World’s Richest Lifeform/ex-DOGE chief/MAGA Bad Boy Elon Musk has called the House’s Big Beautiful Bill Act an “abomination” on his X-Twitter, NPR’s Morning Edition reports. X-Twitter is decidedly not President Trump’s Truth Social. 

Meanwhile, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office scores the bill passed by the House and working its way through the Senate as adding $2.4 trillion to the federal deficit over 10 years. 

Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) wants to get the Senate’s version out by the Fourth of July, but all it will take is four of these five; Senate budget hawks Ron Johnson (R-WI), Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rand Paul (R-KY) along with moderates Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) to sink BBB Act in the upper chamber.

The Travel Ban 12 – The Trump White House has issued a travel ban for 12 countries, a sort of repeat of the first Trump administration’s first big action. The Banned Dozen are: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, The Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. 

It was not immediately known why these 12 were called out, The New York Times reports. And nothing about South Africa, from which at least 49 white Afrikaners have immigrated to the US in recent weeks.

--TL

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WEDNESDAY 6/4/25

Steely Plan – While you were sleeping tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum doubled to 50%. This comes hot on the heels of President Trump’s approval and credit-taking last Friday for a deal in which Japan’s Nippon Steel purchased the US’s premier producer, U.S. Steel. 
 
Appearing in Pittsburgh last week, Trump drew cheers from United Steelworkers members when he announced the doubled tariffs. 
 
There is one exemption to the 50% tariffs: The United Kingdom, which has a tentative deal with the Trump administration to exempt steel, cars and other goods from tariffs, though as Marketplace notes the vaguely detailed, tentative deal still could fall apart. Meanwhile, the European Union is already preparing retaliatory tariffs on the US.
 
•••
 
Recission Package Goes to the Hill – The White House has handed over a $9.4 billion recission package of DOGE cuts to Congress to claw back $8.3 billion in foreign aid and $1.1 billion for NPR and PBS already voted into law. Congress can pass the package with a simple majority, though some Republican lawmakers have expressed concerns, The Wall Street Journal reports.
 
Under a 1974 law, Congress has 45 days to review or overturn spending already approved. Russ Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget has suggested “pocket recissions” could come at the end of the fiscal year, September 30.
 
Musk, Meanwhile … Recently dearly departed DOGE chief Elon Musk has “thrown a wrench” into Majority Leader John Thune’s (R-SD) plans to get the Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by the House last month through the Senate relatively in-tact by July 4, The Hill reports. Musk, who has returned his attention to Tesla, SpaceX and X-Twitter (beyond posting constantly on it), called the deficit-building bill “pork-filled” and “disgusting.” He already has the backing of Senate budget hawks Ron Johnson (R-WI), Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rand Paul (R-KY).
 
•••
 
Where in the World is Secretary Hegseth? – Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is not in the NATO capital of Brussels, where nearly 50 nations have gathered for what is known as the “Ramstein Format” now in its third year, a group of NATO nations organized to discuss military aid for Ukraine. The Associated Press reports that Hegseth would only arrive in Brussels after the Ramstein Format is done.
--TL

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Ukraine Defends Without US

TUESDAY 6/3/25

Another Ukrainian Battlefield Victory -- As talks of new ceasefire talks between Ukraine, Russia and the US continue, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) carried out its third attack since Vladimir Putin’s full-scale war begain in 2022, on the Crimea Bridge used by the Russian military to bring weapons into Ukraine (SBU photo via The Kyiv Independent).

‘Dear Leader: Why I Want This Job’ – The spoils system has returned, with new civil service applicants now required to describe how they would “help advance” President Trump’s policy priorities, Newsweek reports. White House domestic policy chief Vince Haley issued a memorandum May 29 via the Office of Personnel Management that requires job recruits to answer essays on their work ethics, skills and experience, commitment to the Constitution and plans to “advance the President’s Executive Orders and policy priorities,” according to the magazine. 

Newsweek reports it has emailed the OPM for comment outside normal working hours.

•••

Boulder Attacks – Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the Egyptian citizen suspected of throwing Molotov cocktails Sunday in Boulder, Colorado, at marchers protesting in support of Jewish hostages of Hamas in Gaza, has been charged with 16 counts of attempted first degree murder and of a hate crime, NPR reports. Soliman remains in custody with a $10 million bond, The New York Times reports. Authorities have identified four additional victims suffering minor burns in addition to the eight victims identified Sunday including a Holocaust survivor and two people in critical condition.

Authorities say Soliman had been planning the attack for a year and disguised himself as a gardener to avoid suspicion at the rally. He allegedly shouted “free Palestine!” as he was taken into custody – a protest meant to support a Palestinian homeland next to Israel but which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has equated with “heil Hitler” after a suspect in the fatal shooting of Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, at a reception by the American Jewish Committee for young diplomats at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., last month also shouted “free Palestine.”  

Authorities say Soliman brought 16 additional incendiary devices to the Boulder rally. His immigration status is murky; Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin says Soliman has overstayed a 2022 tourist visa. 

--TL

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The State of Trumpism

MONDAY 6/2/25

Buried in the Big Beautiful Bill – A provision buried in the House’s Big Beautiful Bill Act budget for the coming fiscal year would give presidents, including the current one obviously, protection against judges from enforcing their orders unless litigants post a bond that could match the amounts at stake in lawsuits. Court orders so far have ruled Trump administration policies as unlawful in 180 cases so far, USA Today reports, and the bill’s provision would remove courts’ ability to enforce the rulings. 

Including tariffs … After the US Court of International Trade struck down Trump’s tariffs, the president took to his Truth Social to attack Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society, which have for decades been working to install an über-conservative federal judiciary (the US Court of Appeals has put temporary hold on the trade court’s ruling blocking tariffs). Trump was miffed that Leo gave him “bad advice” on “numerous judicial nominations, according to Politico, including his appointee to the trade court, Judge Timothy Reif, who voted with the two other judges on the panel – one a Reagan appointee and the other an Obama appointee – in blocking his tariffs.

On Truth Social, Trump called Leo, who has been working since at least the 1980s to strike down Roe v. Wade and to make the federal courts friendlier to corporations, a “sleazebag” who “probably hates America.”

“He openly brags about how he controls Judges, and even Justices of the United States Supreme Court – I hope that is not so, and don’t believe it is!”

Leo released this brief statement, according to Politico: “I’m very grateful for President Trump transferring the federal courts, and it was a privilege being involved. There’s more work to be done, for sure, but the Federal Judiciary is better than it’s ever been in modern history, and that will be President Trump’s most important legacy.”

Read … Trump’s SCOTUS picks, not tariffs.

PS, U.S. Steel … Trump used his appearance endorsing the deal by Japan’s Nippon Steel to purchase Pittsburgh’s U.S. Steel to announce he is doubling tariffs on import steel and aluminum to 50%. Now his reversal on the deal makes sense.

•••

No Ceasefire Deal – Ukraine and Russia ended their second round of peace talks in Istanbul, Turkey, Monday with no ceasefire deal, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced according to The Kyiv Independent, which had noted that there was little chance for a breakthrough after President Trump refused to impose sanctions on Moscow.

Ukraine played its cards … Kyiv precluded this second round of talks much in the same way the Kremlin has – with major attacks on the opposition. Ukraine on Sunday set off a series of attacks inside Russia Sunday. Key was an SBU security service attack on a Russian airbase in which first-person-view drones (FPV) destroyed 41 heavy bombers. The operation was called “Spider Web.”

The SBU started planning the operation a year and a half ago, a source told the Independent, and smuggled the FPVs deep inside Russia, huddled inside cabins placed on trucks. 

“The SBU first transported FPV drones to Russia, and later, on the territory of the Russian Federation,” the source said. “At the right moment, the roofs of the cabins were opened remotely, and the drones flew to hit Russian bombers.”

No Spider Web for Trump … President Trump, who had something of a falling out with Russian President/dictator Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s missile/drone attacks on Ukrainian civilians during the last “ceasefire” suggested by the Kremlin, was not informed ahead of time of the SBU’s plans, according to The Hill, citing confirmation of the report by its sister network, NewsNation.

•••

Trump Win in Polish Election – Trump-backed conservative Karol Nawrocki narrowly beat liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski in Poland’s presidential elections Sunday, with 50.89% to 49.11% of the vote, according to The Associated Press. As president, Nawrocki will have more power than most parliamentary system presidents, Polityka Managing Director Andrzej Bobinski told NPR’s Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition Monday. 

President Nawrocki has veto rights and oversees foreign policy and defense and security, Bobinski said. Since 2023, Prime Minister Donald Tusk has led a centrist coalition government working to reverse the illiberal revolution the previous conservative leadership imposed on the country’s press and courts, Bobinski said. Nawrocki will have little opportunity to stop the coalition government’s slow progress, he said, but will be able to help conservatives retake control of the government in future elections.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 6/2/25

Maybe Bidenomics Wasn’t So Bad After All

Commentary by Stephen Macaulay

The US economy was doing fairly well until the COVID pandemic in 2020. Then things went to, well, think of a four-letter word that rhymes with “hit.”

Unemployment hit nearly 15%. Real GDP decreased at an annual rate of -2.21%.

As you may recall, President Trump tended to announce in public that the virus would just go away when it got warm or that bizarre medical interventions would do the trick.

According to Bob Woodward, Trump told him on March 19, 2020, “I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down because I don’t want to create panic.”

In addition to which, it was off-brand.

In March 2020 Trump signed the CARES Act. It was the largest economic relief package ever in the US: more than $2 trillion. (This is the legislation that created things like the Paycheck Protection Program.)

Then in December 2020 he signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act. This was some $900 billion.

So we’re looking at about $2.3 trillion.

Also COVID-related was the American Rescue Plan of 2021. That was signed by Joe Biden.

Its approximate cost was $1.9 trillion.

In other words, Trump spent $400,000,000,000 more than Biden.

Remember when Republicans used to accuse the Democrats as being the party of “tax and spend”?

Seems like the Republicans have become the party of “don’t tax and do spend.”

In 2021 the GDP grew by 5.8%. Unemployment fell to 5.35%. Inflation increased to 4.7% --because unlike the previous year, more people were buying stuff.

During the rest of the Biden administration unemployment remained low. Inflation was high in 2022 — 8% -- but in 2023 it was down to 4.1% and lower in 2024: 2.9%.

It was 2.3% in the 12 months through April. Somehow that 0.6% difference isn’t what Trump in campaign mode led us to believe it would be.

What’s more, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, grocery prices were up 2% in April 2025 but up 1.1% in April 2024.

Food in restaurants was up 3.9% in April 2025 but only up 0.3% in April 2024.

The “Big, Beautiful Bill” that the House passed is expected to add $2.4 trillion to the national debt between 2025 and 2034.

Tariffs? Well, despite the Trump administration’s claims that other countries foot the bill, that is simply not the case as anyone who has taken even Econ 101 knows.

The Budget Lab at Yale — and this will probably put the university in the crosshairs of the Administration — estimates that in 2025 the tariffs will cost the average American household $2,800 in 2024 dollars.

Then there are projected job losses from the tariffs.

The Budget Lab projects a loss of some 590,000 jobs by the end of the year.

The center-right Tax Foundation estimates that there will be a job loss of between 250,000 to 309,000

The average of those numbers: 383,000 job losses.

What this means is that US consumers are going to be paying more and rather than some sort of massive job creation, it will result in job destruction.

And then there is that bigger hole in the economy as a result of the Budget Bill as it stands.

Somehow it doesn’t seem like Team Trump is bothered by the financial impacts on regular Americans.

Its Golden Age is what Golden Ages always tend to be: Advantageous to the wealthy.

Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings.

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MONDAY 6/2/25