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Trump administration promote program to check voter eligibility. Critics fear a midterm purge
The Trump administration has run the names of at least 67 million voters through government databases as it looks for noncitizens and people who've died.
Trump administration promote program to check voter eligibility. Critics fear a midterm purge
The Trump administration has run the names of at least 67 million voters through government databases as it looks for noncitizens and people who've died.
Is another government shutdown looming? Here’s how GOP leaders want to avoid it.
Sen. John Kennedy has advanced a bill requiring senators’ pay be halted if they can’t agree to keep government funded.
Now What? With Carbon Pricing Eroded and Pipeline Politics Advancing, Here Are the Pathways for Climate Success
At the end of a whirlwind week of news on carbon pricing and electricity strategy, capping a madcap year of pretty much non-stop, dramatic change, the word across much of Canada’s climate and energy transition community is that climate policy in this country has been shredded. Eviscerated. Hit with a sledgehammer by policy rollbacks that have pushed the country’s 2050 net zero target “well out of reach”. That means it’s never been more important to look for the rays of hope and glimmers of possibility. To glimpse the seeds of the next set of strategies to get Canada’s climate pollution under control and the country into the accelerating global dash away from fossil fuels. And then, once we’ve spotted those possibilities, get on with the hard, day-to-day slog of trying to make them a reality. Nothing takes away from the frustration and the deep disappointment so many climate and energy hawks are expressing, the sense of betrayal by the author of Value(s) and the former UN special envoy for climate action and finance. But we knew two things as the week drew to a close. We’re looking at the world as it most definitely is. And we don’t get to give up finding the pathways to confront climate change and deliver faster, deeper carbon cuts that leave no one else behind. So really, the first question we all have to ask ourselves is: What’s next? Subscribe All the Oxygen in the Room The outpouring of anger and grief over the carbon pricing deal between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has been absolutely understandable. So much of the climate community poured years, more than a decade, into dragging the current federal pricing regime across the finish line, then defending it from a deluge of three-syllable rhymes after the Trudeau government proved utterly incapable of delivering its own message. The policy foisted on us by neo-classical economists took up all the oxygen in the room, burned through years of climate response time that we won’t get back, while cornering climate hawks into the position that the best response to the crisis of our lifetimes is a new tax…in an era of historic anti-tax sentiment. I mean, really—what could possibly have gone wrong? Against that history, let’s appreciate columnist Max Fawcett’s point that even a modest carbon pricing agreement with a government as off-the-wall libertarian/conspiracist as Danielle Smith’s—those adjectives are mine, not Max’s—is a win worth savouring (as long as Smith keeps her promises for a change). But part of living in the world as it is (no, I’m not letting that go) is to be clear-headed about what we can and can’t control. And one thing we get to decide, after seeing this week’s carbon price festivities take up all the oxygen yet again, is whether we want to keep letting that happen. Particularly when success down that road depends on a factor that no one with a climate agenda can control or influence—a provincial carbon pricing mechanism that has been manipulated and eroded beyond its lowest possible denominator. Thankfully, that’s not the way it has to go. Not when we have so many other powerful, practical tools at our disposal, including the ones still available to us through this abominable Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Canada and Alberta. Tools In Our Toolbox When I started roughing out this list, I didn’t expect it to grow to nearly a dozen bullet points. It’s probably still incomplete. Some of the greatest hits in today’s climate solutions toolbox include: • No Carbon Capture, No Pipeline: On Friday, Prime Minister Mark Carney explicitly stated that there’s been no change to the MOU provision that there will be no West Coast pipeline without an industry commitment to build its massive, $16.5-billion carbon capture and storage (CCUS) hub in Northern Alberta, and vice versa. The two megaprojects were joined at the hip when the MOU was signed Nov. 27, and the implementation agreement this week affirmed that they still are. A parade of independent analysts have spent years pointing to the economic and technical flaws in CCUS, while the industry kept postponing its investment decision until it could arm-twist the government for more “clarity” (by which it meant even more lavish taxpayer subsidies) on the project. Now the industry itself is running away from the CCUS hub and insisting the pipeline should proceed without it, but Carney doesn’t seem to be budging from a central tenet of the MOU to which Smith has signed on. • No Subsidies, No Investors: Climate analysts and advocates have quite rightly been hammering away at Carney and his team, insisting that any new capacity the industry wants to build must proceed without new subsidies. The government has responded with a growing collection of funding and financing mechanisms for the very wide menu of industrial development and nation-building projects they say they want to take on, and that menu always includes fossil fuel infrastructure. But it’s hard to see how even the combined fiscal clout of the federal and supportive provincial governments will deliver the financial backing private investors would need when the business case for new fossil fuel development is evaporating before their eyes. Particularly when… • No Market, No Demand, No Investors: As our friend Markham Hislop at Energi Media (our apparently sleepless friend, given the massive volume of great material he’s been churning out) points out this morning, the biggest vulnerability in any pipeline deal is the assumption that Asian buyers will want the oil or liquefied natural ga that our fossil industry is so keen to send them. Hislop writes in part: Ottawa and Alberta are effectively betting that countries like China and India will continue increasing oil imports for decades as their economies grow and energy consumption rises. That assumption underpins the entire economic rationale for expanding oil sands production and building billions of dollars in new export infrastructure. But Asian energy systems are changing rapidly… China, India, South Korea, and other major hydrocarbon importers are now investing hundreds of billions of dollars into electricity systems built around wind, solar, batteries, nuclear, hydro, and expanded transmission infrastructure. Domestic “energy sovereignty” is increasingly replacing the old energy-security model based on stable oil and gas imports. Those investments are expected to sharply slow oil demand growth and eventually reverse it, even as overall energy consumption continues rising. There are also refining constraints. Many Asian refineries and petrochemical complexes are already optimized to process discounted heavy crude from the Middle East and Latin America. That raises serious questions about how much additional Canadian bitumen Asian markets can absorb at profitable prices. Small wonder that there’s still no private sector investor for the project, despite Smith’s government desperately beating the bushes to put together a deal. For now, Alberta is acting as proponent and covering early start-up costs for a pitch to the federal Major Projects Office, which could actually turn into the next tough hurdle for Smith and her pipeline to jump. • Canada Day Looms: How ironic that Canada’s birthday this year could become a major chokepoint for the provincial premier who’s been working so diligently to tear the country apart! The July 1 target date for Alberta’s pipeline proposal is baked into the MOU, was reaffirmed by the implementation plan, but it hadn’t dawned on me that it cuts both ways. As one very smart colleague wrote in an email yesterday, “they’ve thrown the ball into Alberta’s court to get the project proposal on the table really quickly and to have to do a whole pile of work to put together a massive, complicated project that would typically take years to assemble, and they’ve given them weeks to do it.” That makes July 1 a looming deadline that Smith won’t be able to run away from politically, especially with the separatists in her party and her caucus breathing down her neck. (See previous ref to off-the-wall.) But if Alberta comes in with a sloppy, incomplete submission, even after Carney bent over backwards to simplify the application process and the rules that govern it, it may be harder for the province or the industry to blame Ottawa and insist on the faster process they claim their investors are demanding. (Oh, wait—which investors would those be??) • We’ll See You In Court (Then We’ll See You Again): If Carney did cave, that would be just one more reason for Indigenous and other affected communities to take the government and the process to court—Just as Alberta First Nations did, successfully, in response to Smith’s half-baked separation referendum. Veterans of the Harper era have been warning that a shoddy process around fossil fuel infrastructure or other major projects will be a recipe for the very delays that process seeks to avoid. And now more than ever, with renewable energy and energy storage eating fossil fuels’ lunch in import markets around the world, a delayed pipeline or LNG terminal may be as good as a cancelled one. • Charged Up, Ready to Go: With its goal of doubling Canada’s electricity supply to meet a doubling of demand by 2050, the national electricity strategy that Carney unveiled Thursday has a lot to like. With its explicit language about speeding the shift from fuels to more efficient and affordable electricity, global investment and deployment patterns that already favour that shift, an emerging bidirectional power grid, the role of front-line options like rooftop solar and heat pumps, the emergence of electric vehicles as behind-the-meter energy storage, and the domestic jobs and manufacturing to make it all happen, the document doubles down on the essential cornerstone of a faster shift off fossil fuels. The strategy envisions a more prominent role for gas and nuclear power. But some of those provisions were already in the Clean Electricity Regulations that climate hawks are now fighting so hard to defend, inserted as a compromise in a futile attempt to mollify the industry and its political representatives in Alberta and Saskatchewan. But once again, gas will be a tougher sell when it’s more expensive and now so much more unpredictable than the clean alternatives. The new nuclear technologies are still speculative and deeply vulnerable to cost overruns. Increasingly, utilities, developers, and investors know it. Carney declared Thursday that “it doesn’t do us good to be sitting in court all the time with provinces. It doesn’t do us good to be talking past each other. What does do us good is to come together with specific projects.” There are no guarantees, but so much of the language and narrative-building in the electricity strategy suggests the lion’s share of those projects will be renewable. • The Party Has Already Started: The electricity strategy only rarely digs down to specific projects, but provinces representing three-quarters of Canada’s population are already embracing a faster transition. Hydro-Québec is working on a 10-year, $185-billion renewable energy and grid buildout by 2035. Ontario recently brought 10 provinces and territories together in a National Energy Corridor Agreement to boost interprovincial and -territorial transmission infrastructure. And the MOU implementation agreement commits Alberta to facilitate investment in renewable energy projects, a big step back from its continuing, punitive restrictions on renewables development. The electricity strategy envisions much of the financing and infrastructure that will be needed to pull those advances together into an integrated whole. • Delivering on Affordability: The MOU implementation plan has little or nothing to say about affordability (are you surprised?), but the electricity strategy does, with a top-line pledge to reduce home energy costs for seven out of 10 Canadian households by 2050, a total saving of $15 billion across the board. It’s just a start, but it puts affordability on the government’s narrative map. If they’re serious and deliberate about patching together a least-cost energy strategy, it’ll have little if any room for oil, gas, or nuclear—not with powerful evidence, for example, that electricity prices are higher when those prices are set by gas. • Smith Proves that Canada Works: By signing a deal that makes it harder to claim the federal government is blocking a new pipeline, Smith has helped prove Carney’s constant anti-separatist refrain that “Canada works”—incurring the rage, no doubt, of her own political base. Canada also needs to work for anyone who depends on a clean environment, healthy and thriving ecosystems, and safe, stable climate. But with Smith and her separatist constituents setting up as a fifth column for annexation by Donald Trump’s United States, let’s set aside any notion that 51st state status for Canada is a recipe for anything other than climate disaster (and so much else). Resisting and withstanding Trump (just 170 more sleeps until mid-term elections, which is a damn sight better than the 730 we started with) doesn’t mean a free pass for a pipeline, but we can still appreciate it that keeping Canada whole and sovereign is still Carney’s Job One. • The Words Not Spoken: Apart from a commitment to export a million barrels of “low-emission” Alberta bitumen per day (memo to Smith and Carney: You realize that that’s less than the industry is already exporting??), the MOU implementation plan says nothing about the international trade and economic sovereignty deals that Carney has been travelling the world to negotiate. It didn’t have to. Carney doesn’t need permission from Danielle Smith, her American enablers, or her separatist allies to continue building the alliances that will ratchet down our economic dependency on our unstable, unreliable neighbour to the south. But every connection he builds with countries outside North America helps align our economy and our future with a faster shift off fossil fuels. Little if any of this was on our bingo cards a year or two ago. But it’s the pathway that has opened up to us. And if it gives Canada any climate or energy gains at all in an era still dominated by Trump and his increasingly ridiculous tariffs, his loutish trade negotiations and his continuing annexation threats, we have to take the wins. Not least because they’ll be the point of departure for what we can achieve in 2027, 2029, and beyond, as Trump’s grip and this era begin to loosen and then fade. What is Carney Doing? If this line of thought is right—and it’s a possibility, not a prediction—it means that Carney’s actions and decisions are largely about buying time. Time for Trump’s power to wane. Time for Alberta’s separatist/conspiracist virus to spread, mutate, die out, or at least die back, with help from a vaccine of federal steadiness and calm (appropriate enough, for a movement populated largely by vaccine deniers) that no conspiracy theory can dismiss. And time for the government’s trade and investment agenda to deliver results—even knowing that some of those results will bring impacts that front-line communities will not and should not accept. In the immediate moment, none of this changes the way the wider climate community has to respond, from campaigners to investors to front-line practitioners. All of our voices are still essential. But those voices will be stronger and more confident if we have a clearer sense of the brutal game we’ve been pulled into, and a plausible path (or two it three) for playing it to the win we need. This conversation also underscores our biggest task for the remaining years of what was supposed to be the “decisive” decade for climate response: if we can shift the energy narrative in Canada, make it a mainstream view that the country’s preoccupation with oil and gas has us falling farther behind a changing world, we’ll see far better results in the 2030s and beyond. For many veteran climate advocates, taking on that part of the fight will begin with recognizing that most of our friends and family, neighbours and colleagues already understand that climate change is real and right in front of us: they’re looking away and staying silent because they don’t have what climate communicator Katharine Hayhoe calls “efficacy”. As Hayhoe recently pointed out in a feature interview with The Energy Mix, it amounts to science denial to keep hammering away at the dire news about global warming without also helping audiences understand what they can do about it, with multiple studies telling us why that won’t work. Far better to open those conversations with the dominant crises like energy security, food security, emergency preparedness and business continuity, affordability, and financial security that have knocked climate change far lower on the list of public priorities, and will likely keep it there. We Knew This Would Happen Climate hawks have always known this day would come. For decades, we warned that everyone had to pay attention to climate change right now, because it would be much tougher to respond once the crisis itself started affecting our daily lives. We were right, and here we are. But now, thanks to decades of hard work, communities and countries have an alternative to doubling down on fossil fuels. “In 10 years everyone will have ‘always known’ that solar and batteries were going to win,” Morgan Solar Executive Chair Mike Andrade writes on LinkedIn. With the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz roiling energy priorities around the world, Canada and the United States are among the shrinking number of countries that are still very keen on fossil fuel development. Understanding that gap is a first, essential step in spotting the opportunities ahead, and averting the deep economic as well as environmental and social risk we face if we don’t seize them. Thanks for reading The Energy Mix Weekender! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work. Subscribe Mitchell Beer traces his background in renewable energy and energy efficiency back to 1977, in climate change to 1997. Now he and the rest of the Energy Mix team scan 1,200 news headlines a week to pull together The Energy Mix and The Energy Mix Weekender. Chart of the Week BYD Eyes 20 Dealership Locations After Canada Greenlights Chinese EV Imports ‘Sledgehammer’ Carbon Price Deal Boosts Emissions by 230Mt, Aims for Fall 2027 Pipeline Approval ‘Worse Than Harper’: Regulatory Rollback Would Stop Canada from Assessing Project Impacts, Critics Warn Electricity Strategy Aims for Doubling by 2050, Allows ‘Flexibility’ for Gas Power Plants Opposition Mounts as O’Leary’s Data Centre Approved in Drought-Stricken Utah Diluted Carbon Price Misses ‘Reality of the World We’re In’, Could Impede Diversified Trade: Climate Institute $200B in Clean Energy Investment Will Need On-Time Delivery, Reliable Policies, Trade Association Says ‘Sovereign Pipeline’: CEO Pitches to Keep Trans Mountain in Government Hands What a Supercharged El Niño Could Mean for Canada Canada’s future is electric, and here’s how a power grid superhighway would get us there (Toronto Star) The Perilous Waters of Hecate Strait (Globe and Mail) Saudi Aramco profits jump despite conflict in Middle East (The Guardian) Farmers confront rising cost of fertilizer and fuel as spring seeding under way (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) Clarkson forecasts 24% decline in offshore oil, gas capital expenditures (Oil & Gas Journal) Pipe Dreams: How Oil and Gas Fail to Deliver Economic Development in Africa (Oil Change International) Developing countries must hold the pen to script the fossil fuel transition (Climate Home News) Iran war threatens the dream of a post-oil economy in the Gulf (Washington Post) U.S. Oil, Gas Work Force Hits Lowest Level Since 2022 (Rigzone) Why Polestar Is Doubling Down on Net Zero as Rivals Pull Back on EVs (Bloomberg) Why this Michigan utility plans to sell its hydro dams for $13 (E&E News/Politico) Levees can no longer save New Orleans (Vox)
Latvia’s president asks opposition leader to form new government
If opposition leader Kulbergs were to form a government, the cabinet lineup would need to be approved by parliament.
Climate change is a health crisis – and fixing it is a health opportunity
Independent Commission of former heads of government, international bodies, ministers and civil society leaders delivers 17 recommendations for what WHO and countries should do next.
UK ex-health minister says will run to replace Prime Minister Keir Starmer
Pressure mounts on Starmer's government, as Labour rivals including recently resigned Wes Streeting circle.
Latvia’s President Nominates Kulbergs to Form New Government
Latvia’s President Edgars Rinkevics nominated Andris Kulbergs of the United List party to form a new government after Prime Minister Evika Silina resigned on Thursday ahead of parliamentary elections in October.
Ultra-Orthodox conscription dispute pushes Israeli government to brink
Israeli government faces collapse as coalition parties clash over military draft exemptions for Haredi constituents.
In a Fracturing UK, Nigel Farage Emerges as Nationalist Nemesis
With the UK government in crisis, the specter of a Reform leadership one day is shifting the political dynamic in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Andrew Left's defense goes on the offense in securities fraud trial
Andrew Left's defense pressed a federal official on why the government targeted him instead of a company he accused of fraud.
First Round Of Rural Health Transformation Funds Now Available - West Virginia Public Broadcasting
The state’s nearly $200 million award from the federal government for 2026 aims to strengthen rural health systems statewide.
Argentine protests condemn science funding shortfall
Demonstrators across the country called for the government to increase public university salaries and funding for scientific research.
Argentine protests condemn science funding shortfall
Demonstrators across the country called for the government to increase public university salaries and funding for scientific research.
NYU's Joshua Tucker on the politics of training AI
Joshua Tucker, New York University Center for Social Media & Politics co-director, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss details of the university's new research showing that AI chatbots generate more government-friendly responses when prompted in languages tied to countries with tighter media controls, the intersection of politics and AI, and more.
Exclusive: At Samsung, the global AI boom spurred a looming strike and deep divisions
A looming 18-day strike at South Korean chip giant Samsung that has triggered worries within the government, rattled foreign investors and threatened global supply chains rests on one crucial question: who should share in the spoils of the AI boom?
Long-awaited Xbox Elite Series 3 controller leaks in photos from Brazilian government body
Just hours after a new Xbox Cloud Controller was revealed by the same source.
Praise to the chief: A week of homage to Trump
Since returning to office, Trump hasn’t just solidified his grip on Republican politics and asserted his executive authority deep into the federal government. He has inspired, encouraged, and, at times, outright demanded to be showered with homage.
Britain's pound, stocks and bonds fall on political uncertainty, global inflation angst
British government bonds, stocks and sterling fell on Friday, as domestic political uncertainty clashed with global worries about an inflationary shock, leaving UK assets in the mire.
Chartbook 449: Voldemort on Threadneedle street. The Bank of England and the "haunted house" of English politics.
Imagine the scene: In some Harry Potter version of 21st-century London, a group of deathless UK Treasury officials gathered from across the last century huddle over warm pints and glasses of Chardonnay. Around the table there are officials from the 1920s, the 1930s, the 1970s, 2022 and today. Inevitably, in May 2026, the subject of conversation is the disintegration of the current Labour government. Despite its huge majority in parliament, it has been reduced to tatters by catastrophic local election result. These exposed the fact that rather than having a government with a clear popular majority, the UK is like most other modern societies divided into 5 segments each of which commands between 26 and 16 percent of the vote. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the leadership at Nos 10 and 11 Downing Street - where the Prime Minister and the Chancellor (Treasury Secretary) work - seem paralyzed. They are caught between mounting discontent over unfairness and the cost of living, and tough fiscal strictures that push them into making unpopular spending decisions. In the London pub, the Treasury officials from across the ages, can barely hide their satisfaction at the latest display of democratic politics caught in the vice-grip of financial logic. “Remember the mur d’argent and the banker’s ramp?” “Just like yesterday!” There are smirks around the table. Then the representative of 2026 pipes up: “One thing you have to say about the current lot (referring to the latest hapless Labour government), you don’t have to teach them about the bond market!” There is a murmur of ascent from the Treasury Mandarins. The trauma of the fiscal crisis of September-October 2022 sits deep. Back then, in the final stages of Tory decay, a ‘mini budget’ that challenged fiscal orthodoxy led to a brief but fierce panic in one of the oldest government bond markets in the world (aka gilt market). Now all you have to do is to mention the “bond market” to hush debate. [ Paul Mason@paulmasonnews In the name of public service, and as ex-economics editor of BBC Newsnight, I offer to do a zoom call, tonight, with any Labour MP who wants to understand why bond markets do not "fall into line" with governments. 1/ 3:57 PM · May 12, 2026 · 466K Views 224 Replies · 674 Reposts · 3.93K Likes ](https://x.com/paulmasonnews/status/2054229532404519082?s=20) “And the funny thing is”, the young man in the huddle continues, “they don’t even want to talk about … ”. There is a sudden hush. Significant looks are exchanged around the table. About? One of the senior figures puts down his glass with a decisive “clink”. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has entered their thoughts. Meanwhile, a few miles away in a grubby pub in Bloomsbury, two conspirators from the camp of Critical Macrofinance huddle over cans of low-alcohol IPA. They look at each other and blurt out loud: “The Bank!” “Everyone in the bloody Labour party is talking about the bond market. But why aren’t they even mentioning … the Bank of England!?” “Why is no one talking about Voldemort?” In Paul Mason’s blogpost, after much chest-thumping about basic fiscal logic, the basic point about the Bank of England is buried in the fine print at #3 in his list of suggestions as to what a radical Labour government might actually be able to do! [ Conflict & Democracy Down with the bond market! Down with gravity! It may seem unfair to focus on Labour MP Paula Barker for her off-the-cuff assertion that the bond market would have to “fall in line” with Andy Burnham, should he replace Keir Starmer as prime minister. But Burnham himself told the New Statesman that Labour had to “get beyond this thing of being in hock to the bond markets… Read more 2 days ago · 100 likes · 3 comments · Paul Mason ](https://htsf.substack.com/p/down-with-the-bond-market-down-with?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web) Back in Bloomsbury they shake their heads and ask: “Didn’t we learn anything from the Eurozone crisis?” Meanwhile, as if summoned to the conversation by some higher force, the “pink pages” announce: “The days of ultra-cheap government borrowing have come to an end” and Martin “Whizzard” Wolf publishes the graph of the season Look at the UK in 2026, perilously positioned on the upper edge of the pack. No wonder no one in London needs any lessons about the “bond market”. But, look again. Imagine how they feel in Rome. What is London’s nightmare in 2026? The nightmare is that you end up like Italy in the early 2010s during the Eurozone crisis. Once comfortably situated in the middle of the pack, watching with horror as your ten-year yields explode to 7 percent and “spreads” become a national nightmare. One of the largest economies in Europe, a founding member of the euro, stigmatized. But the message of the Italian experience is ambiguous. After all, the stigma didn’t last. In 2026, Italy borrows at rates lower not only than the UK but the US. The US, which, as everyone knows, enjoys the “exorbitant privilege” of being the issuer of reserve, safe asets. What kind of magic is this? How did Italy, in the space of fifteen years, go from being good, to bad and back again? Which brings us back to our dissident friends in their Bloombury boozer and their memories of the Eurozone crisis. Italy never was Britain - with its ongoing fiscal deficits. Without interest payments, on primary balance, from 2000 to 2020 Italy ran a tight fiscal ship. Even in 2008 it barely went into deficit and when it was being put on the rack in the early 20210s its primary surplus matched that of austere Germany. So, what happened? How did it end up stigmatized? Of course Italian politics didn’t help. Berlusconi was at the helm and he had legal issues. But amongst friends in the Bloomsbury pub, Berlusconi is a sideshow, the name we whisper to each other is “Trichet”. From 2004 to 2011 the ECB was headed by Jean-Claude Trichet, ex of the French Treasury, more German than the Germans. After 2009 as the news of the Greek fiscal disaster broke, the European bond markets wento into panic mode and Trichet began a brutal game of cat and mouse. Between 2009 and 2011, Trichet intervened in the bond market to help, only when he thought he had compliance with austerity. When he thought they were uncooperative, he withdrew. In the summer of 2011, he even made direct suggestions to his Italian counterparts in Rome, as to how Italy should be governed. It was this cat and mouse game that drove the bond markets crazy and exposed Italy to a violent squeeze. When Mario Draghi took over the ECB at the end of 2011 and declared “whatever it takes”, the pressure on Italy, gradually eased. It is that starring role that has made Draghi into the towering figure in European politics that he remains today. So now you see why voices in London hush when it comes to the Bank of England. “The bond market” isn’t an irresistible objective force like the weather or an avalanche. It can appear like that. But that depends on the way it is being handled, or not handled by the central bank. Which is why the silence about the Bank of England in London right now is so significant. If you think this all sounds a bit fishy, coming from a left-liberal Keynesian like myself, well, let me introduce you to Robin Brooks, who, to put it mildly, plays on a different quidditch team to me. Here, from the position of a fiscal hawk is Robin’s celebratory account of the Bank of England’s role since 2022; In October 2022, at the height of the bond market blow-up in the UK, something incredible happened. Governor Andrew Bailey told British pension funds the Bank of England would end its support program for the country’s fragile gilt market, drawing a line under how much help the central bank was willing to give to exposed pension funds and - implicitly - the government. By the end of that week, Kwasi Kwarteng - the finance minister - had resigned. Prime Minister Liz Truss would soon follow. This episode is so incredible because it contrasts with what happened in the Euro zone earlier that year. Bond markets in Spain and Italy were under pressure amid high inflation and rising interest rates. In the middle of this, Mario Draghi - Italy’s Prime Minister - resigned, compounding pressure on bond markets of high-debt countries on the Euro periphery. Unlike the Bank of England, the ECB caved. It bought Italian and Spanish government bonds in an effort to cap yields and introduced a new tool that signaled to markets it might do such caps more frequently going forward. Faced with pressure on bond markets, the ECB capitulated to political pressure from high-debt countries like Italy and Spain. The Bank of England stood its ground and toppled the Truss government. This kind of thing has long-lasting consequences. It means markets price a higher probability of yield caps in the Euro zone, which keeps Italian and Spanish yields artificially low, while markets feel free to push up UK yields without fear of central bank intervention. As I flagged in yesterday’s post, this means you really can’t compare UK yields to those of other high-debt countries. The UK looks worse, but only because its central bank isn’t interfering with markets. There’s more to this than just that 2022 episode. The Bank of England has also been much more aggressive in its quantitative tightening (QT) than other central banks. If one motivation for quantitative easing (QE) is to lower bond yields - especially longer-dated ones - then it stands to reason QT pushes yields up. The left chart above shows a four-quarter moving average of UK government debt issuance (black line) in percent of GDP and which sectors absorb this issuance, including the Bank of England (blue bars). The right chart above compares the Bank of England’s accumulation or run-off of government bonds (blue line) with that of other central banks, where this blue line is the same as the blue bars in the left chart. The Bank of England was quicker and more aggressive than other central banks in downsizing its bond holdings, so UK yields will have risen more than elsewhere also for this reason, not just because of Governor Andrew Bailey’s remarks in October 2022. Back in October 2025, after a conversation in New York with friends in British politics, my sense of dysphoria was such that I raised the issue of the Bank of England openly in the FT Since 2008, the UK has slid into a deep economic and political predicament. Growth has stagnated to a degree far worse even than in the 1970s. The Tory leadership’s wager on the Brexit referendum spectacularly backfired, leaving the UK isolated from Europe and at the mercy of its special relationship with the US, many of whose political class regard the UK as a basket case. After years of austerity, the Labour party lurched to the left and then back to the centre. The Tory party has been eclipsed by the populist nationalism of Reform. Any British government should be worrying first and foremost about how to restart growth. Instead, Keir Starmer is beset by shades of the gilt market panic triggered by the Liz Truss government in 2022. The debt level is higher than in recent years, but there is no cause for panic. UK debt is at far from critical levels and of long duration. Whether you want to “take back control” or launch progressive economic policy, a democracy dogged by fear of bond market vigilantes is unhealthy. In a country that is a monetary sovereign, this climate points to one thing: a disconnect between the government and the central bank. Since 1997, the independence of the Bank of England has become a sacred cow. But independence is what you make of it. And in the wake of the gilt market crisis of September 2022, relations between the Bank of England and the UK government need a reset. In normal times, there is no doubt that an inflation-targeting independent central bank can serve a country well. But since 2008, the UK and other advanced economies have not had the luxury of such simple problems. To their credit, central bankers around the world have not stood on orthodoxy. After 2008, the US Federal Reserve rescued the global banking system and, through quantitative easing, it stabilised the Treasury market in the face of huge deficits. In Europe, things were trickier. Both the Bank of England under Mervyn King and Jean-Claude Trichet’s European Central Bank played cat and mouse with national governments. This was a high stakes wager that between 2010 and 2012 escalated bond market tension and triggered a disastrous turn to austerity. Shaken by the impact of those shocks, their successors, Mark Carney and Mario Draghi adopted a more protective stance (assuming you were not the government of Greece). Recall that Draghi’s legendary slogan, “Whatever it takes”, was uttered to face down the City of London’s bond vigilantes. In 2015, Draghi launched QE — financial repression by another name. In 2016, Carney used the authority of the Bank of England to stabilise markets following the vote for Brexit, an exemplary demonstration of how central banks can underpin democratic choice, even when those choices are wrong headed. All these were independent central bankers steeped in the best practice of the 1990s, who recognised that historic crises demanded radical action. It was the price surge of 2021-2023 that poisoned the atmosphere. Though the shock came mainly from the supply side, central banks ended up in the dock. Nowhere more so than in the UK. The Bank of England reacted with aggressive normalisation. Faced with a cost of living crisis, the governor called for workers to accept real wage cuts. In early 2022, as gas prices were at record levels and Russia’s army was poised to invade Ukraine, the Bank adopted a stringent programme of quantitative tightening, elevating interest rates. When the Truss government got itself in trouble, the Bank took almost a week to come to the rescue. Rather than enacting a charade of normality, it is time to recognise that in 2025 the UK faces a period of historic transition. To meet this challenge, what is needed is a new concordat with the Bank. This should not ignore inflationary pressures or the long-run trajectory of debt, but should affirm the priority of reviving investment-led growth. One could follow Donald Trump in demanding interest rate cuts. The Bank could shadow the ECB in its commitment to capping Eurozone yields. But the top priority should be to lay the ghost of September 2022. The Bank’s slowing of QT last month was a concession. An immediate and complete end would send the right signal. Such a concordat will not by itself restore sanity to politics, solve the housing problem or rebuild the NHS. But it would help to lift the fear of bond market crisis, which is paralysing the effort by democratic politicians to answer the fundamental questions facing the nation. Now, that call for a new concordat between government and Bank of Englands seems more urgent than ever. The problem is that in October 2025, Starmer still had some authority. Today the government is in tatters. And when you are the “under the harrow” - to echo a phrase of Montagu Norman’s from the 1920s - it is the worst possible time to consider institutional change. To make general arguments at a time of crisis can only seem like special pleading rather than a general argument for long-term change. The same, unfortunately, is also true for the other basic institutional reform that Britain urgently needs i.e. the abolition of the out-dated first past the post electoral system and its replacement by a moderated form of proportional representation. And thirdly - whilst we are saying the quiet parts out loud - Britain needs to reopen the question of EU membership. What the local election results of 2026 show is that this remains a key issue. And what they also show is that there is a clear majority that would favor a return. Until these basic features of Britain’s political economy are addressed the country will carry on its politics as though in a haunted house, governed by governments that lack actual majorities, conjuring up false constraints whilst ignoring the real ones. This one is for DG and MI. I love writing the newsletter. If you enjoy it too and fancy buying me a coffee once a month, you know what to do. Click below! Subscribe
Taming UK yields depends on economics not politics
Long-term government borrowing costs above 5% are higher than other developed economies and more sensitive to shocks. It’s tempting to blame political upheaval, but structural factors matter more. The solution is to shrink macroeconomic imbalances and revive capital markets.
Cuban government says CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with officials in Havana
The meeting was reportedly held to foster political dialogue between the two long-strained adversaries
Cuban government says CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with officials in Havana
The meeting was reportedly held to foster political dialogue between the two long-strained adversaries
Let the Postal Service Operate Like a Business
The U.S. Postal Service’s financial woes are largely caused by government interference.
Senate passes John Kennedy resolution to halt senators’ pay during government shutdowns
The resolution follows several lengthy shutdown that left federal workers without pay for weeks.
Contributor: Despite being overrun by businessmen, D.C. is anything but business as usual
If a massive federal government cannot efficiently regulate industries, it cannot efficiently invest in them. Somewhere between Wall Street and Washington, this insight got lost.
Netanyahu testifies his health is 'top decile' in libel suit over cancer reports
The Prime Minister Testified in Court After He Sued an Anti-government Activist and Two Journalists Over Reports on His Health. In April, a Medical Report Revealed Netanyahu Had Been Diagnosed With Prostate Cancer and Underwent Radiation Therapy Without Informing the Public in Real Time
When Businesspeople Run Government, the Government Doesn't Become a Business
Central planning from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, President Donald Trump, and others reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of what makes private markets work.
Senators vote to block their pay during future government shutdowns
The Senate on Thursday moved to bar senators from being paid during government shutdowns.
Senators vote to withhold their own pay during future government shutdowns
The bipartisan support for the measure comes at a time when federal closures have become longer and more frequent, frustrating lawmakers who say there should be punishment when Congress fails at its most basic legislative duty.
Senators agree to go without pay during shutdowns after historic closures left workers unpaid
Senators unanimously voted to withhold their own pay during future government shutdowns after federal workers went unpaid in two historic closures.
A White House committee gathered sharp minds to save college football -- instead, they wrote a blog post
From Bird Rights to coach salary caps, the White House committee on 'Saving College Sports' basically wrote government-sponsored college football fan fiction
US business inventories post biggest gain in nearly four years in March
business inventories increased by the most in nearly four years in March, boosted by stocks at wholesalers, government data showed on Thursday.9%, the largest gain since June 2022, after climbing 0.
Free the Economy podcast: Pension politics with Jarrett Skorup
In this week’s episode we cover more legal headaches for the Trump tariffs, keeping kids safe in an AI world, and California’s latest government boondoggle. Our guest this week is Jarrett Skorup, vice president for marketing and communications at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Midland, Michigan. We talk about his latest study, “Unions […]
Wes Streeting resigns as health secretary - his letter in full
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has announced his resignation from government.
UK health minister Wes Streeting resigns
British health minister Wes Streeting resigned from government on Thursday, saying he had lost confidence in Prime Minister Keir Starmer's leadership.
KFF Poll Finds That Most Adults Lack Confidence in Key Health Agencies to Act Independently — The Monitor
KFF’s latest Health Tracking Poll finds that confidence in the independence of key government health agencies overseeing food and drug safety and public health is low among the public and across partisans. Most of the public also share a distrust of agriculture, food, and pharmaceutical companies to act in the public’s best interest, compared with doctors and health care providers who are much more trusted among the public.
Moscow bans almost everyone from posting about drone strikes
The ban extends even to government agencies and emergency services, with only the defense ministry and mayor's office allowed to make posts.
Freeing Political Prisoners Should Be A Priority At Trump-Xi Summit
Attention from the President and Congress should signal the U.S. government's intent to free political prisoners during the Trump-Xi summit.
Labor accused of ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ for axing $760m research program to fund other science measures
Researchers say budget decision to cut commercialisation program to fund the CSIRO and other science initiatives undermines the government’s own priorities
It’s Way Past Due That Rand Paul Quit His COVID-19 Crusade
At a Congressional hearing, the senator from Kentucky made a fool of himself as he tried to prove that the pandemic was a government cover-up.
Canadian-based company ceases operations; dozens of people laid off in Pennsylvania
The company said its financial position has worsened significantly since 2021, and that it had faced additional pressure since 2024 due to the imposition of tariffs by the U.S. government, post-pandemic reductions in consumer demand, increased competition from offshore competitors, and ongoing cash constraints.
Senate takes major first step to prevent future shutdowns with painful accountability play
Senate advances Kennedy's resolution to withhold lawmaker pay during shutdowns, adding consequences as government closures become more frequent.
Governments May Shape What AI Chatbots Say by Shaping the Data They Learn From
Six studies show how state-coordinated media in AI training data influence model responses about politics—especially in a country’s own language
Tariff Refunds Begin to Reach Businesses as Trump Lashes Out at Court
The government must return about $160 billion, plus interest, collected from duties deemed illegal and potentially more if it loses a related tariff case.
What’s in the King’s Speech?
‘Traditionally a moment for governmental clarity’, today’s opening of Parliament took place ‘amidst profound political uncertainty’
Opinion | Unfortunately, We Have to Take Spencer Pratt Seriously as a Politician
Reality stars and influencers in government are here to stay.
Amid elevated disaster risks Tahoe cannot afford tourism business-driven governance
Local and state governments in 2026 are under more pressure than ever to provide services. These new realities and an uncertain summer came into sharp relief recently in Nevada. During the state’s joint interim standing Government Affairs meeting, lawmakers received an alarming update from Nevada’s head of Emergency Management and Homeland Security about strained disaster […]
Watch: Pomp and ceremony as King delivers speech in Parliament
King Charles III has unveiled the government's agenda in a speech to Parliament.
Something new brewing at 515
Scott Hedderich and his son, Wil, are hanging up their government affairs hats and picking up a mug as they embark on a new career making beer. The Hedderiches have purchased 515 Brewing in Clive and they are spiffying up the place for what Scott said he hopes will be a grand opening in early…
Science is under attack and Minnesota politicians are asleep at the wheel
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar recently rolled out some preliminary plans for Minnesota in her campaign for governor with a focus on fraud. Notably absent from her list of priorities: science. Leaders in Washington have gutted our crown jewel — the U.S. research enterprise. Many will argue that state government isn’t responsible for fixing the crisis […]
Axios interview: Reimagining government + business + AI
Chris Lehane laid out OpenAI's political playbook.
UK bond market on edge amid political turmoil
Political instability, fears of drawn-out Labour leadership campaign, and possibility of Reform government all blamed for jump in UK borrowing costs
UK bond market on edge amid political turmoil
Political instability, fears of drawn-out Labour leadership campaign, and possibility of Reform government all blamed for jump in UK borrowing costs
All sides of politics backed ambitious gambling reforms. The government’s response is half-hearted at best
Australia’s gambling epidemic will likely continue because the government has only half-heartedly agreed to do more to protect Australians.
“The Outsider” comedically addresses politics and government
The Island Players are ending the 2025-26 community theater season on a high note with the satirical political comedy, “The Outsider.”
Schumer backs GOP's plan to bring the pain during future shutdowns: 'I'm going to vote for it'
Chuck Schumer says he will vote for a Republican-backed Senate resolution to withhold senators' paychecks during any future government shutdown.
Camp Lejeune to host small business outreach event in Jacksonville
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune is hosting a small business outreach event later this month aimed at helping companies learn how to compete for government contra
Google launches new Android security feature to help uncover spyware attacks
Intrusion Logging is a new part of Android’s Advanced Protection Mode, which aims to help protect human rights activists, journalists, and dissidents from government spyware attack and law enforcement forensic devices.
Political spending groups want to influence Fresno elections. Whom do they support?
“There is a lot more interest in our political outcomes than maybe we would expect there to be,” said a local government expert.
Hantavirus is not Covid-19, but ‘calm-mongering’ risks triggering post-Covid anxiety
Since the first sign of an outbreak, the reminders have come from government officials, health agencies and plenty of experts: There’s no reason to worry. Don’t panic. It’s under control.
Government Seizes Farmer’s Land to Build Airport for Corporate Jets and Business Hangars
“I’m just a farmer in their way,” says Georgia producer Jeff Melin. “Force me to sell, take my land, and fly in the billionaires and big companies.”
In war with Iran, China sees a familiar pattern of U.S. mistakes
President Trump arrives in Beijing this week for talks with a Chinese government that is confident as ever in its ascendance on the world stage.
A warning from the UK for America’s political class
Americans are only a little less satisfied with our system of government than the people of South Africa, which is really saying something, given that South Africans as a whole are about half as sa…
Britain Politics
Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Steve Reed arrives for a cabinet meeting in Downing Street, London, Tuesday, May 12, 2026 as Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer
Alcohol is wreaking havoc on U.S. public health. American society looks the other way
The Deadliest Drug, a new investigative series, shows that the alcohol epidemic is a generational failure of the medical and public health systems, of industry, and of government.
Laws on veterans, 9/11 families and election certification face threat in proxy voting case
Several veterans’ benefits programs, payments for 9/11 families, a ban on TikTok on government devices, and changes Congress made to how presidential elections are certified in light of the January 6 Capitol attack are all in jeopardy with a case challenging how the Democratic-led US House relied on proxy votes to pass a massive, Covid-era funding bill.
Political expert slams Bernie Sanders proposed ‘data center moratorium’ bill under guise of AI safety
Government Accountability Institute executive director Seamus Bruner analyzes Sen. Bernie Sanders’, I-Vt., artificial intelligence criticisms on ‘The Bottom Line.’
Trump nominates David Cummins to head the TSA after a rocky period for the agency
Cummins worked as a senior vice president at Serco, a government contractor.
AST SpaceMobile Provides Business Update and First Quarter 2026 Results
MIDLAND, Texas, May 11, 2026--AST SpaceMobile, Inc. ("AST SpaceMobile") (NASDAQ: ASTS), the company building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by everyday smartphones, and designed for both commercial and government applications, is providing its business update and results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026.
Government Contracts Insights
For all its controversy, complications, successes, and failures, the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development...
UF Health Shands receives top care, safety rating from U.S. government
Latest national recognition for Florida’s premier academic health center
The community-less, hyper-online citizen is a threat to democracy
Robert Putnam, a political scientist and sociologist, first came to widespread public attention with his turn-of-the-century tome, “Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community.” There has been frequent debate regarding whether Putnam, who taught for several decades at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, is a conservative or liberal. Occasionally mistaken for unquestioned right-winger […]
Philippine Congress poised to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte
Impeachment complaint seeks Duterte's removal from office and perpetual disqualification from any government post.
UK's Starmer launches political fightback, putting Europe ties at heart of reset
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will begin a political fightback on Monday in a speech that says rebuilding relations with the rest of Europe will be his government's defining mission, as he moves to quell growing calls to quit.
“We Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For”: Bhatti’s Vision for a Different Politics
Virginia congressional candidate Salaam Bhatti discusses campaign finance reform, redistricting, and his policy vision rooted in community and structural change. In this interview, Bhatti outlines his approach to welfare reform, donor influence, and the role of local engagement in shaping a more responsive and representative government.
Trump’s role as LIV Golf host renews scrutiny over conflicts of interest
Experts are raising conflict-of-interest and ethical concerns after President Donald Trump hosted a LIV Golf event at his Virginia property this weekend, renewing scrutiny over whether the Trump family is financially benefiting from his time in office while supporting a golf league backed by a government accused of human rights abuses.
Trump tariff refunds are actually happening – and businesses should pay attention
Business owners may have to wade through paperwork, but the US government is now processing refunds
Chicago Teachers Union wants $8.5 million dues hike to fund politics
“Has your brand become toxic?” This was a pointed question from WGN Political Editor Tahman Bradley, posed to Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates in a recent interview. Her immediate response: “I don’t understand the question.” When pressed, Gates added, “The Chicago Teachers Union is not a political party, it is a labor union.” But internal union documents show CTU leadership is trying to skim $8.5 million more from teacher paychecks explicitly for politics, while trying to silence union members critical of Gates’ leadership. Under the proposed dues hike, Chicago teachers would see up to $800 more per year flow from their paychecks to union coffers. The union already takes in more than $40 million a year, mostly from dues. And it spends less than 18 cents of every dollar on teacher representation. The No. 1 reason for the proposed dues hike? Politics. “We must win a majority of the first 21 person fully elected school board in November,” reads the first point in CTU’s member FAQ document.1 This directly contradicts CTU’s promise to members about how leadership uses dues money. The official CTU handbook tells members that the union does not use dues money for politics, so if they are interested in funding political activity, they should consider voluntary donations to CTU’s political action committee. “Our dues are not used for political purposes,” according to the handbook. “So our PAC relies on extra contributions from our members to support progressive candidates and to impact elected officials at the city, county and state levels.” This kind of double-speak is one reason members are concerned about another constitutional change slipped into the dues hike vote, which will take place on May 20-21: an attempt to stop members from holding the union accountable. A proposed amendment to the union constitution tries to place limits on when members may bring a lawsuit against the union for violating members’ rights.2 This provision is clearly a response to members’ lawsuit against union leadership regarding Gates’ years-long refusal to publish audited financial statements. The judge in that case has repeatedly denied the union’s attempts to dismiss it. Teachers opposed to these changes have been circulating this flier, urging members to vote no. What will CTU members get in return for millions of dollars in additional dues? If the 2024 school board elections are any indication—not much. CTU leadership’s record on school board races may not inspire confidence among members. A Chicago Policy Center analysis of a dozen affiliated PACs found CTU spent nearly $2.9 million on school board races in 2024. Of that spending, more than $2.1 million (75%) went to losing candidates. And while CTU-backed candidates lost six of the nine competitive seats overall, they fared worse in their biggest-spending races, losing five of six contests in which the union and its affiliates put up more than $250,000 for their candidate. The Chicago school board elections take place Nov. 3.3 Is another $8.5 million enough to clean up a toxic reputation? Not likely. Update on federal tax credit scholarship: Last week, Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she plans to opt into the federal tax credit scholarship program. If Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker follows suit, Illinois could unlock $1 billion in donor money statewide for both public- and private-school students. If Illinois does not opt in, that money will flow to other states. The Last Ward reported in February on how Illinois Democrats could unlock at least $100 million in new resources for Chicago public-school students by opting in. Update on the investigation into how Chicagoans learned about a meeting to hike their property taxes: The Last Ward reported in January on an absurd, taxpayer-funded investigation into how local media learned of a planned Chicago school board meeting to hike the district’s property tax levy. That investigation is now complete. Lawyers interviewed two dozen witnesses, and found nothing. Update on Illinois’ muni debt crisis: My colleague Joe Tabor last week published a must-read piece in Crain’s Chicago Business about how Illinois recently rejected south suburban Harvey’s request to be designated a “distressed city.” The saga shows why the state must implement a better structure to assist insolvent local governments, including allowing for the option to pursue debt relief via Chapter 9 bankruptcy. The Last Ward reported in October on how Harvey is tipping the first domino in Illinois’ municipal debt crisis. Mincing Rascals: I joined the Mincing Rascals podcast to discuss the SAFE-T Act, the millionaires tax, and more. My “green light” recommendation: Force Majeure (2014). 1 Notably, the No. 2 reason cited is “resources to fund a state-wide millionaires tax campaign in order to fully fund the state’s school funding formula.” The constitutional amendment necessary to implement a progressive income tax in Illinois recently died in the Illinois House, meaning this question would not appear on the ballot until 2028 at the earliest. 2 There is seemingly no single-subject rule for CTU constitutional amendments. So members only get one vote on the full package. One cannot vote “yes” on the dues hike and “no” on the restriction of members’ rights, for example. 3 Illinois law grants far too much power over local government to unelected officials like Gates. State lawmakers should fix that.
Health advocates warn government’s claims of baby formula safety contradict data
Independent scientists who reviewed the results said most samples were contaminated with Pfas or phthalates
Chicago health department leaves millions of federal COVID dollars on the table
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s health commissioner voluntarily returned tens of millions in COVID-19 grants to the federal government months before expiration.
Mass Layoffs in Iran as Businesses Buckle Under Wartime Pressures
Iran was already struggling economically before 2026 brought widespread instability. A government-imposed internet shutdown has crippled an entire sector.
Syria sees first government reshuffle since al-Assad’s ouster: State media
Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa's reshuffle comes amid protests over poor government performance.
FBI investigating recent deaths and disappearances of multiple US scientists
The scientists supposedly all had access to sensitive government research, and the nature of their work has led to speculation that their cases might all be connected.
Just Show Us the Spaceships Already
Until the U.S. government has data or samples of alien material that can be shared, the story of extraterrestrial visitors is just a story.
Colorado needs a sane, viable opposition party
If you are upset with the increasing regulatory burden in Colorado, the exodus of too many large employers, accelerating property taxes, the condition of the roads, and all of the funding for transit schemes with low demand, of course, you can lay the blame on Democrats who control all levers of state government. The same […]
DeSantis reveals which dictatorship should be 'put out to pasture' next
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Cuba's communist government should be "put out to pasture once and for all" as he signed law restricting Cuban-linked businesses in Florida.
Alaska Legislature asks federal government for more flexibility on rural health funding
Legislators say restrictions on how and when Rural Health Transformation Program funding can be used present problems for Alaska.
After Frederiksen Falls Short in Denmark, Right-Leaning Politician Is Asked to Form Government
King Frederik X has appointed a right-leaning politician to try to form the next government.
Colorado governor signs $47 billion budget in which ‘nobody won’
Gov. Jared Polis on Friday officially signed a $46.87 billion spending plan for the Colorado state government in the next fiscal year. His signature is the culmination of months of work by legislators, who resorted to cuts, transfers and other mechanisms to balance the 2026-27 budget amid a deficit of more than $1 billion. That […]
Ray Curtis wants to take voters, and politicians, back to school
Ray Curtis, a retired government teacher and a longshot candidate for the Republican nomination for Congress, wants to see a return to the principles enshrined in the Constitution
In California governor race, single-payer healthcare is a litmus test. There’s still no way to pay for it
Single-payer healthcare is a central talking point in the chaotic race for California governor. In a crowded field, top-polling Democrats are declaring their support for a government-run health system but providing few details about how they’d accomplish it.
Funding crisis in Argentina sparks new wave of protests
Two years after the country’s research funding collapsed, scientists are demonstrating against the government’s failure to restore previously cut scholarships and increase salaries as required by a 2025 law.
As federal government pulls back, Colorado charts independent course with vaccines
As state leaders change laws to make vaccines more accessible, a coalition of doctors, public health advocates and everyday Coloradans is trying to start a public conversation about their importance.
Military spouses want government to waive up to $1 million business loan fees
"...one of the biggest barriers to entrepreneurship is access to funding."
Sorry, Spirit Airlines—Government Has No Business Owning Businesses
The White House is setting an awful precedent by muddying the line between the government and the private sector.
Public health officials warn of rise in measles, as Va. hantavirus patient under monitor
As summer travel season is a factor in disease spread, state and federal government leaders offer guidance and resources.
Judge rules Trump administration’s cancellation of humanities grants was unconstitutional
The Trump administration’s cancellation of more than $100 million in humanities grants to scholars, writers, research groups and other organizations was unconstitutional, and the Department of Government Efficiency had no authority to end the funding, a federal judge in New York ruled on Thursday.
Ask Inside Wisconsin Politics: Polarization, ideology, money
What questions do Wisconsinites have about government, elections and candidates?
Gov. DeSantis signs legislation more tightly regulating data centers
The Governor said the new law gives local governments control over land use rules to protect from data centers.