Author: nick

Seeking support from Americans worried about the economy, elected Republicans have been touting a spike in tax refunds — the first refund season following the 2025 enactment of President Donald Trump’s signature tax and spending legislation.  “The average IRS tax refund is up 11% compared to last year thanks to the Working Families Tax Cut that expanded the standard deduction and child tax credit, eliminated taxes on overtime, tips and Social Security…and more,” wrote Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., in a March 31 X post.  The average IRS tax refund is up 11% compared to last year thanks to the Working…

The background check system for gun purchases is a mess. Republicans have criticized Democratic presidents for failing to prosecute people denied gun purchases through background checks. Democrats have leveled the same criticism at Republican presidents. But both sides miss the real problem. The system generates mistaken denials – “false positives” – by confusing felons with non-felons, so the denials aren’t real cases. And those errors disproportionately affect black and Hispanic males. This week, the House will vote on Congressman Thomas Massie’s NICS Data Reporting Act. The House Judiciary Committee passed the bill unanimously. The legislation would require the Department of…

The Department of Justice does not need to wait for Dr. David Morens to turn on his colleagues; the evidence to charge the next key advisor to Dr. Anthony Fauci is already in the public record. Greg Folkers was critical to the censorship operation at the heart of the Covid response. As Chief of Staff at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Folkers oversaw operations for the agency’s $6 billion budget and later sought to evade FOIA requests by conspiring with Dr. Morens and intentionally misspelling key phrases such as “g#in-of-function.” In January 2020, he sent the…

Elon Musk’s repost of an All-In podcast talking up a Tesla-SpaceX merger within 6-12 months has been treated by much of the mainstream financial commentariat as just another bout of celebrity volatility. TSLA pops, shorts reload, the "it’s just a car company" refrain makes another lap around cable. The coverage tells you less about Musk than it does about how little the market has internalised what he is actually building. Source link

From David Wecht’s public statement: Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice David Wecht makes this statement in his personal capacity. This statement is not made on behalf of any other person, nor on behalf of the Supreme Court or any other institution. The people of Pennsylvania elected me. They put their faith in me, and I reciprocate. I have faith in Pennsylvanians, and they deserve to know the following. In 1998, my wife and I were married at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Congregation, on whose Board of Trustees I served. Twenty years later, in the very same sanctuary where our wedding occurred,…

The UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed in a speech Monday to prove critics wrong and fight any challenge to his leadership of the Labour Party after sharp losses in local elections last week have emboldened challengers and left Starmer’s government on the brink.  In his speech delivered to members of the party, Starmer said Britain faced “very dangerous opponents” and warned that internal turmoil could benefit Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. As part of his plan to bounce back from the bruising election results, in which the Labour Party lost over 1,500 local legislators, Starmer announced three new policies: the…

From today’s decision by Judge Jeannette Vargas (S.D.N.Y.) in Goldstein v. CUNY: On January 9, 2026, Plaintiff Avraham Goldstein (“Plaintiff”) filed his Third Amended Complaint in this action. Plaintiff alleges that he is employed as an assistant professor at City University of New York, Borough of Manhattan Community College.  He is an Israeli citizen, an Orthodox Jew, and a Zionist. Plaintiff alleges that he was the subject of discrimination and retaliation after he complained about a program on campus called the “Palestinian Solidarity Series.” Plaintiff asserts claims for religious and national origin discrimination and retaliation under Title VII of the…

Everyone is arguing about whether to have children, writes Caitlin Flanagan. Almost no one is talking about what you get when you do. Source link

RCI Editor J. Peder Zane and RCI Senior Reporter James Varney speak with Gary Saul Morson. Source link

Political opposites President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani continue to have a surprisingly friendly relationship. Source link