Beau Whitney

The Strategic Power Play to put Judicial Power in Democrats Hands. Senators Peter Welch (D-VT) and Joe Manchin (I-WV) have introduced a resolution proposing a constitutional amendment to establish 18-year term limits for Supreme Court justices. This amendment would institute a system where a new justice is appointed every two years, ensuring regular turnover while preserving the tenure of currently seated justices. The initiative aims to address concerns about the politicization of judicial appointments and restore public trust in the judiciary. To become law, the amendment would need a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate, followed by ratification by three-quarters of the states. Public backing for this reform appears strong, with polls showing a majority of Americans support term limits for Supreme Court justices. This legislative push is part of a larger dialogue on Supreme Court reform, echoing President Joe Biden's and other lawmakers' calls for measures like enforceable ethics codes and term limits to tackle what they describe as a crisis of legitimacy in the nation's top court. However, resistance exists, with Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) among those who argue that these reforms are less about enhancing judicial function and more about shifting the court's ideological balance away from its current conservative majority. The proposal to limit justices' terms to 18 years has sparked considerable debate, often viewed as a political strategy: Unintended Consequences: Critics, including conservative voices, fear that term limits might make the court more susceptible to contemporary political influences, thereby compromising the justices' ability to act on legal principles rather than current political climates. They argue that lifetime appointments were designed to shield justices from such pressures. Term Limits & Court Packing: There's apprehension that term limits, especially when coupled with proposals to increase the court to 13 justices, could lead to "court packing." This is seen as a strategic power play to put judicial power in Democrats hands. Constitutional Concerns: Some legal scholars and conservative commentators contend that, while Congress can regulate judicial conduct, fundamentally changing lifetime tenure might necessitate a constitutional amendment, which is notoriously difficult to achieve. In conclusion, while the introduction of 18-year term limits and potential court expansion might be seen as efforts to reform the judiciary, they are also interpreted by some as a means to politically recalibrate judicial power designed to support Democrats. The debate encapsulates the tension between judicial reform and political strategy, highlighting the complexities of altering one of the foundational branches of government. https://lnkd.in/g5dxmutw

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In a recent Senate hearing, U.S. lawmakers expressed concerns about who is responsible for reporting foreign election interference. Amidst debates, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines outlined the current process, which involves various agencies depending on the situation, but highlighted the challenges posed by political sensitivities. The discussion reflects the broader national security context where the U.S. is becoming more proactive about publicly disclosing such interference, a shift prompted by past experiences and ongoing geopolitical dynamics. For a full discussion on the challenges and strategies of reporting foreign election interference, read the detailed article on CyberScoop: https://lnkd.in/ewVhnUsq #ElectionSecurity #CyberSecurity #USPolitics #NationalSecurity

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TC's Robinson-Patman injunction suit filed against wine and liquor distributor Southern Glazer today requests a ban on price differences that disfavor small stores. It would likely raise prices and reduce consumer welfare. A new FTC majority may wish to undo this if possible.

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A Renaissance in Gold Mining Coming to Nevada President Trump has said he's going to clean up Washington and move many of the Government's headquarters out of DC. When he was President before, he relocated the Bureau of Land Management to Colorado, but it did little good. I am expecting the BLM, EPA, SEC and several other government bodies to be more-than relocated after Elon Musk gets to work. I am expecting these government bodies to streamline their application processing to simple check the box forms. Oh sure, you'll have to attach your evidence to support it. But with the BLM it shouldn't take 9 to 24 months to get a permit to drill on government land. The same goes with the EPA. If these government bodies were streamlined in application processes you would see a renaissance in oil drilling and mining, both industrial and precious metals mining. In surveying Nevada geologists, the consensus is that we will see these things happen within 24 months and when it does its going to be "drill baby drill"! If you streamlined the SEC with its overwhelming regulations that actually prohibit small cap financing, things will change. Decades back I remember when the NASD ruled over broker dealers. That all changed when the adopted FINRA and right after that the small, regional underwriters began to disappear, overwhelmed with dual regulatory prohibitions that made it nearly impossible to stay in business and within a few years, better than 70% of them disappeared for good. Now, only about 5% remain. This has to be reversed. The power on Wall Street is under the control of a handful of national brokerage and money management firms. They need to be broken up. Remember the bank failures during the Obama administration? Then came new rules out of a Democratic-held Congress that made it so only US Treasuries could be held by banks. That led to the collapse of banks as they couldn't put their cash anywhere else. Gone was gold, A-Rated muni bonds and corporate bonds. Trump needs to reverse that trend, breakup these Wall Street monopolies and streamline the SEC... especially its enforcement division. That will create new regional bankers that will finance that know their own markets and the business headquartered there. I am not against money management. Heaven only knows that many investors would rather have a professional oversee their investments. But a lot of those mega-management firms choose to put the bulk of that cash into the same stocks and funds. What happens when one of them collapses? It will create a retirement nightmare! Just look at where the Dow is and how it leapt 1500 points when Trum won the Presidential Race. There is an unprecedented amount of cash that's piled up on the sidelines in money market accounts and most of that is from small investors, not the fat-cat institutions. Brokerages are charging ungodly rates to borrow at your brokerage, double-digit! It prohibits investment.

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FTC's Robinson-Patman injunction suit filed against wine and liquor distributor Southern Glazer today requests a ban on price differences that disfavor small stores. It would likely raise prices and reduce consumer welfare. A new FTC majority may wish to undo this if possible.

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OPINION: We have permitted the gradual destruction of the Constitution by permitting all 3 branches of the federal government to ride roughshod over the 10th Amendment. The camel sneaks into the tent & once in, it’s hard to kick it out! Background: The Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, a part of the Bill of Rights, was ratified on December 15, 1791. Here is the exact wording; note the language is simple to understand. 10th Amendment: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” At the time this was ratified by all 13 States, there were ONLY 18 enumerated powers granted to the newly formed federal government. Alexander Hamilton opposed adding this amendment. He argued its inclusion might imply the federal government would claim certain powers other than those limited to these 18. Review: “These enumerated, or listed, powers were contained in Article I, Section 8, including the following: To lay and collect taxes;  Pay debts and borrow money;  Regulate commerce;  Coin money;  Establish post offices;  Protect patents and copyrights;  Establish lower courts;  Declare war; and raise and support an Army and Navy. But the very end of this list contained one more power: to make all laws “necessary and proper” to carry out the enumerated powers. Also known as the Elastic Clause, this phrase has allowed Congress to stretch its enumerated powers to fit its needs.  For instance, in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), the Supreme Court ruled that under the Necessary and Proper Clause Congress had the power to establish a national bank to carry out its powers to collect taxes, pay debts, and borrow money. Broad interpretation of the Elastic Clause has allowed expanded Congressional power.” EXCERPT above in quotes: Federalism content, written by Linda R. Monk, Constitutional scholar ********************************* Opinion continued: We've fallen asleep over the past 100 years, while the federal government has usurped enormous powers & daily intrudes on our inalienable individual & States rights. We relinquished our formerly independent nature & pioneering spirit as we submit control to a distant centralized power structure - a usurpation our founders would have strenuously fought. Today, many fail to speak up for fear of offending others’ sensibilities. By supporting Convention of States Action (begin with signing our petition) we can lawfully claw back much of that power we've surrendered, by using Article V, section two, of the Constitution - a provision acting as a tool the framers gave us to thwart federal overreach. Please research us.  Sign the petition. Volunteer – as part-timers are all welcome.  Spread the word. We are non-partisan, with a majority of polled Republicans, Democrats & Libertarians supporting our mission. For more information: Visit: https://lnkd.in/e_KfiNT3 Thank you.

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Not to bring everything back to UK politics but this highlights the key dilemma for Labour at the moment: the obvious, central strategy to have is to follow the Cameron/coalition playbook where everything is "hard choices, clean up the mess left by the last lot" and it's always better to underpromise and overdeliver. But doing so, especially now that the right no longer have any incentive to pretend things are better than they are, just feeds this general sense of hopelessness which is bad for mainstream parties and only feeds the extremes. To an extent this is just an "every option is bad" situation because the fiscal situation is genuinely very bad and the global economic outlook is also choppy at best. But it's also clarifying because there is no option other than embracing "Deliverism" and having something positive to say rather than relying on distaste for the far right.

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The current political landscape presents a unique convergence of circumstances. President Trump enters his second term unburdened by reelection concerns and, notably, less beholden to traditional Republican power structures than any modern president. This independence, combined with his demonstrated willingness to buck conservative orthodoxy on issues like infrastructure and trade, creates an opening for meaningful bipartisan reform. As I wrote in “The Reformer’s Dilemma,” “John W. Kingdon’s concept of ‘policy windows’ illuminates the fleeting opportunities in the policy-making process where conditions align, enabling advocates to advance their issues or effect changes in policy direction. These windows are transient, emerging from a confluence of problems, potential solutions, and political circumstances.” The window for transformative change is vanishingly small – I would argue within the first 60 days of an administration. After that, political gravity reasserts itself, especially as midterm elections approach. Subscribe to my substack to read more of my thoughts: https://lnkd.in/eAsmuJ9W

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Proprietary data is “more valuable than gold.” The big push to monetize the information you and I create continues.

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My latest column for #barrons -- on why Trump's trade war with #China is already going off the rails

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Historically insightful patterns on "free trade" presented by Ben Norton across 1860s Britain and today's USA. "Biden's tariffs on China expose US hypocrisy on 'free trade' & tech subsidies. The Joe Biden White House imposed high tariffs on Chinese technological products, including electric vehicles (EVs), solar panels, batteries, and semiconductors. Ben Norton analyzes the hypocrisy of US government accusations that Beijing provides unfair subsidies to its industries, while Washington is spending trillions on industrial policy -- and how this exposes the "free trade" dogma spread by neoliberal economists as a myth." https://lnkd.in/dVpfuKFQ

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"The implications of Trump’s stance on Russia extend beyond immediate security concerns. They strike at the heart of American democracy. A weak and thinned skinned individual who openly admires autocratic tactics, disregards allied commitments, and undermines his own intelligence community poses a direct threat to the democratic values and international norms that have long underpinned U.S. foreign policy. Trump’s behavior suggests a preference for the tactics of strongmen over the principles of democratic governance and the rule of law." (Rear Admiral John Butler, Ret. USN, National Security Journal, 11/07/2024) Rear Admiral John Butler served 32 years in the U.S. Navy, with his final posting at the Program Executive Officer, Submarines. This exceptional article, from this exceptional leader and former servant of the American people, reflects the voice and thoughts of much of America's serving military today who will likely soon come to call and serve a new "Commander in Chief", Donald Trump. NATO and Europe spent much of last week's 75 Anniversary gathering in Washington, future proofing themselves from the onslaught they are expecting from a potential Trump Administration. Within 24hrs of his formal appointment as the Republican Presidential Candidate, he was reaching out to Vladmir Putin to "negotiate" peace with Ukraine. This dangerous would-be free world leader has exposed how little he understands about international law and order, let alone war and peace or even democracy and sovereignty. Any suggestion by a Trump administration that it can negotiate with Putin's regime is a lie and is not even legally possible. Only an immediate, complete permanent withdrawal of Russian forces from this illegal, immoral, terrorist invasion and genocide of Ukraine can constitute a ground for peace. Any other suggests are not only nonnegotiable but are legally, politically and morally not possible within the Rules Based International Order.

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See attached file of the actual line-item list of Republican Party Project 2025 Plans to de-construct the administrative branch of US Gov't. This list is the detailed back-up and integral part of Project 2025 plan to flesh-out brief synopsis posted recently which Republicans intend to further implement as justified and empowered. This Heritage Foundation work product is the 19 page task-list of 334 recommendations made to Republican Exec leadership summarizing the Heritage Foundation conservative think-tank work and change recommendations made in 2017 (which were partly implemented through 2020 and some repealed / reinstated since). All voters need to become aware of the plan details action recommendation list which would substantially alter gov't administration of virtually all departments, including: Transportation, Education, Social Security, HUD, Health & Human Services, Labor Dep't, Homeland Security, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Interior, Veterans Affairs, US Postal Service, State Dep't, Commerce, US Census Bureau, FCC, Justice Dep't, Treasury, Mgm't & Budget, US Trade Agency, Small Business, US Trade Dev'l, Overseas Private Invest, Import-Export Bank, Consumer Protection, FHA, Corp for Nat'l Community Service, Nat'l Endowment for Arts & Humanities, and Woodrow Wilson Int'l Ctr for Scholars. As observed, these proposed changes for US Gov't Admin are far-reaching with apparent intent to dramatically alter, decentralize, and perhaps simplify federal admin, while bestowing more responsibility, accountability, and costs to operate these functions onto the States and eliminate some functions. No data was yet found on internet search thus far as regards timeline, cost, productivity impacts, risk analysis, rewards, value addition, or other evaluation parameters for responsibly implementing these recommendations for governance admin. From an operability and maintainability standpoint in my experience all progress stemmed from thorough and valid studies, and action lists. This list reminds me of those being managed in O&G / Energy business that would be work tasks and problem items we intended to work-off in given time periods and resources according to established goals and budgets; that typically we found more items added to the list (than removed) as priorities changed. As a supporter of less mgmt and oversight is generally better and more cost-effective philosophy this may be a good start as an extreme wish-list. With actual implementation to follow a strict and mutually agreed process among all parties - that is also provided those accountable and responsible meet established goals while essential and critical programs and function elements, tasks, and infrastructure remain in-place to assure no undesirable events occur which very adversely affect life, value, freedoms, human rights, equity, progress, safety, health, environment, and pursuit of happiness.

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‘Stuck on Stupid’: The Real Problem Behind Election Losses Faulty analysis and ignoring the real issues won’t fix election losses. It’s time to get serious about building a coalition. https://lnkd.in/etSrr_rk #ElectionAnalysis #CoalitionBuilding #VoterEngagement #PoliticalStrategy #DataDriven #EmpowerChange #RolandMartinUnfiltered #BlackStarNetwork

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