President Trump’s call to impose a temporary cap on credit card interest rates has unsettled his own party. The proposal—framed as a one-year, 10% ceiling on APRs beginning in early 2026—has been marketed as decisive relief for consumers drowning under historically high interest rates. Yet beneath its populist appeal lies a familiar pattern: bold proclamation…
Power, Precedent, and the Perils of Unilateral Force: The High-Risk Gamble of Capturing Maduro
The U.S. military strike on Venezuela and the announced capture of Nicolás Maduro mark one of the most dramatic assertions of American power in the Western Hemisphere in decades. The operation will likely stand alongside the most consequential unilateral interventions of the modern era, not only because of its immediate tactical audacity but because of…
Banning Congressional Stock Trading Is About Moral Order, Not Moral Grandstanding
The renewed push to ban individual stock trading by members of Congress reflects more than a cyclical ethics debate or a momentary populist impulse. It signals a deeper institutional reckoning over whether public office can continue to coexist with private financial maneuvering in markets lawmakers directly influence. For years, Congress has relied on disclosure rules,…
History, Power, and the Peril of Governing by Spectacle
The controversy surrounding President Trump’s attempted National Guard deployments to major U.S. cities is not merely a skirmish over public safety policy. It is a revealing moment about how power is exercised, justified, and constrained in a constitutional republic, and about what happens when political theater collides with historical and legal reality. At its core,…
Power, Pressure, and President Trump’s Pharma Deal
President Trump’s agreement with major pharmaceutical companies to reduce drug prices deserves more than a quick partisan reaction. It sits at the crossroads of health-care economics, executive power, and moral responsibility, and it raises a question Americans should keep asking long after the headlines fade: will this actually help patients, or is it merely another…
When Tragedy Happens, What Should Leadership Look Like?
The deaths of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, found stabbed in their Los Angeles home, are shocking and heartbreaking on their own without political commentary layered on top. Their son, Nick Reiner, has been arrested on suspicion of the killings, with authorities calling it a homicide. In the midst of national shock…
A Time of Strategic Boldness and Consequential Questions
As we approach the 2026 midterm elections, President Trump is not retreating to the customary presidential sidelines. Instead, he has made clear — through his own advisers and actions — that he intends to play a front-and-center role in influencing Republican outcomes. White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles stated publicly that Trump will be…
Washington Needs Less Drama and More Decency
If you’ve glanced at the headlines lately, you may have noticed that Washington is starting to look less like the capital of the world’s greatest republic and more like a crossover episode of CSI, Survivor, and The Office. We’ve got Congress hauling in Jack Smith for a closed-door testimony that he wanted to give in…
Two Political Earthquakes and What They Say About American Power Today
Every once in a while, American politics hands us two stories that seem unrelated but actually rhyme like Psalms and Proverbs. Yesterday gave us exactly that: Matt Van Epps squeaking out a narrower-than-expected win in deep-red Tennessee, and President Trump issuing a full pardon to Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, whose corruption case involved some eyebrow-raising…
America’s Institutions Are Cracking and Politics Is Still Swinging the Hammer
Some weeks in American politics feel like someone’s juggling chainsaws while riding a unicycle on a frozen lake: impressive in a terrifying way. This past stretch gave us two reminders of how wobbly our institutions have become: the Pentagon reviewing Senator Mark Kelly’s “illegal orders” video, and Georgia finally dropping its long-simmering 2020 election-interference case…
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