Deregulation Remains Our Best Hope to Combat Alzheimer’s Disease

In Analysis by Michael Rae

This January, the Food and Drug Administration approved the drug Leqembi to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Leqembi is pathbreaking in two ways. First, while the vast majority of Alzheimer’s drugs can only help slow the progress of the disease, Leqembi can stop and reverse cognitive decline. As an FDA news release states, “This treatment option is the latest therapy to target and affect the underlying disease process of Alzheimer’s, instead of only treating the symptoms of the disease.” Second, Leqembi is one of only two drugs approved by the FDA to treat Alzheimer’s in the past …

López Obrador´s Honeymoon with Cuba

In Analysis by Michael Rae

Mexico´s president, López Obrador, recently bestowed on his Cuban counterpart, Díaz-Canel, the highest honor his country confers on foreigners—the Order of the Aztec Eagle. This was not an ordinary diplomatic gesture, but a full-blown show of ideological, political, and even geopolitical support. AMLO (the Mexican president is widely known by his acronym) praised the Cuban revolution and Fidel Castro for “defining for more than sixty years, with the support of an indomitable people, the border that should always exist between sovereignty and the desire for hegemonic domination.” He called the current Cuban dictator “a distinguished, …

The Inflation Outlook: By the Numbers

In Analysis by Michael Rae

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI data, inflation for 2022 was 6.5%, with the annual rate slowing from 9% at mid-year. Prices increased by 0.8% in January 2023, showing that inflation persists. Three months of price increases at that rate would put inflation above the Fed’s 2% target rate in three months. Prices tend to increase more in the year’s first half than in the second half. Systematic differences in economic data in different parts of the year are why data are often seasonally adjusted to remove seasonal fluctuations. In 2022, for example, all …

Bureaucrats Gone Criminal

In Analysis by Michael Rae

2020’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is an epic case study of government failure. It was intended to help small businesses survive being shut down because of state and local government-mandated pandemic lockdowns. It was instead a feeding frenzy for lobbyists and extremely wasteful. There’s a good reason why it’s known as “the biggest fraud in a generation“. It’s hard to believe the PPP could get any worse. But it has. Serious allegations have been raised that thousands of federal government employees cashed in on it. That’s not just unethical; it’s criminal. The Daily Wire‘s Luke Rosiak reports: Thousands of federal …

Transportation Secretary Buttigieg Goes Off the Rails

In Analysis by Michael Rae

As we noted, Federal Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is fond of taking trips on private jets funded by taxpayers. As the nonprofit Americans for Public Trust revealed, Secretary Buttigieg has taken at least 18 trips on private jets funded by taxpayers, including a trip to Montreal, Canada, to receive an award. The Secretary’s response to a recent railway incident also deserves a closer look.  As Newsweek reports, on February 3rd, a train carrying vinyl chloride and other chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, forcing “evacuations for thousands of residents living nearby.” People in the area and across the country …

China Balloon Back Stories

In Analysis by Michael Rae

Samantha Aschieris helpfully catalogs some hard questions following the flight of a Chinese spy balloon over the United States. Except for the matter of whether the overflight was somehow an “error,” these all deserve serious attention. As investigators should understand, the five queries do not exhaust the mysteries about this balloon.  Photographers first spotted the Chinese craft while the balloon flew over Montana. The Billings Gazette published the photos, which were quickly picked up by media around the nation. Only then did the U.S. military acknowledge the balloon, which overflew missile installations such as Malmstrom Air Force Base.  From there, …

Former Senior U.S. Department of Education Appointees Defend UNC-Chapel Hill Board, Chastise Accreditors

In Analysis by Michael Rae

The Independent Institute’s Williamson Evers and other past top U.S Education Department officials are chastising an accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), for attempting to block the creation of a new school based on free inquiry within the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. UNC-Chapel Hill’s trustees intend the new school to promote free and open dialogue, not intellectual and ideological conformity. The School of Civic Life and Leadership, as it has been named, will hire professors “from across the ideological spectrum” to teach in such academic fields as history, …

5 Key Questions in Senate Panel’s Hearing on Chinese Spy Balloon

In Analysis by Michael Rae

Questions flew Thursday as the Chinese spy balloon that floated last week above the U.S. was the subject of a hearing by a Senate subcommittee. U.S. officials revealed Feb. 2 that China’s surveillance balloon was flying over the country. Two days later, on Feb. 4, an American fighter jet fired one missile to shoot down the spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina. The public hearing by the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense occurred the same day that the House voted unanimously to condemn China’s infiltration of U.S. airspace. The Senate subcommittee later met behind closed doors with military …

SBF, the FTX “Crypto Messiah”

In Analysis by Michael Rae

History has always produced masterful rogues who seek riches by swindling others. During the 18th century Scotsman, John Law, a gambler who killed a man in a duel over a married woman, escaped from prison, and in 1716 wound up in France and established the Banque Royale that could print money to pay government expenses. Law created the Mississippi Company that issued shares with proceeds going directly to the French government to pay down debt. Throughout Law got a cut of the action that allowed him to buy estates, mansions, and diamonds and declare himself, …

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Biden Ignores Nation’s Biggest Problem in State of Union Address

In Analysis by Michael Rae

President Biden has given his 2023 State of the Union Address. In it, he failed to even mention the nation’s biggest fiscal problem—the skyrocketing cost of the national debt occurring on his watch. Global economy analyst Mike Shedlock illustrates that problem: The chart shows the cost of servicing the U.S. national debt rose during President Trump’s time in office but has absolutely exploded during President Biden’s short two years in office. This explosion has been caused by rising interest rates, which were caused by the inflation unleashed by President Biden’s fiscal policies. Policies that have proven to be …

Don’t Let Storm Lessons Drain Away

In Analysis by Michael Rae

Recent rainstorms caused flooding and power outages across northern California but also helped replenish the state’s water supply. On the other hand, as many Californians learned, storms can also reveal government incompetence.  As we noted in 2017, a massive spillway failure at the Oroville Dam prompted an evacuation order that sent 200,000 people running for shelter. According to experts, if the spillway collapsed, it would not be much different than total dam failure.  “The emergency spillway remained basically a dirt, soil rock facility,” Rep. John Garamendi told reporters, “and it worked fine until it had …

The False Narrative of Tyre Nichols’ Death

In Analysis by Michael Rae

The recent incident involving Tyre Nichols received national attention and sparked discussions about systemic racism. But the Nichols case did not have the typical ingredients to fit into the narrative of systematic racism. Nichols was black, but all five officers involved in his arrest were black too—here was no Derek Chauvin figure. Never ones to yield to the facts, some see things differently. For example, in an article entitled “The fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, explained,” Vox tells us the following: “It’s systemic, and it’s ultimately state violence, which doesn’t really have a color except …