Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 187
Bad Instincts
“A group of progressive Nobel Prize-winning economists has joined the fray in California’s battle over what would be the first wealth tax in the U.S. if state voters approve the measure in November,” the Financial Times reports.
“Six laureates including Joseph Stiglitz and Peter Diamond have penned an open letter backing the proposed one-time 5 percent levy on billionaires, saying it could kick-start a movement to introduce wealth taxes across America and the world.”
“It’s 45 days before an Election Day that will determine control of Congress for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s second term and 20 states are already mailing ballots to voters. That includes the hard-fought Senate contests in Texas, Michigan and North Carolina,” Bloomberg reports.
“Tens of millions of Americans will have already cast their ballots before Nov. 3, thanks largely to the Supreme Court earlier this week blocking an effort by the Trump administration to add new restrictions to voting by mail. Thirteen states will in the next 15 days join those that have already sent ballots to voters.”
“Hispanic voters who helped re-elect Donald Trump in 2024 are discontent with his second-term economic and immigration policies, according to recent polling – indicating they may not be willing to support the president’s party in the midterm elections,” The Guardian reports.
“Despite a record number of Hispanic voters casting their ballots for the Republican president, more than 65% said they are displeased with Trump’s handling of his job and 78% said they would prefer to see the Democratic party in control of Congress, according to a September poll from the New York Times/Siena University.”
“Cuba’s power grid collapsed once again on Friday, leaving millions of people across the island without electricity for at least the sixth time since President Trump cut off fuel to the island in January,” CBS News reports.
“The Iran war is driving fuel prices higher worldwide, leading to angry protests around the globe and straining the economies of countries that have nothing to do with the war,” Axios reports.
“It’s not just driving up prices in the U.S. The war is causing problems around the world — in some cases far worse than anything Americans are experiencing.”
“The surge in prices squeezes consumers, and worsens the finances of governments trying to contain the shock — especially poorer and developing countries with little fiscal running room.”
“MS NOW said White House officials denied access to at least two of its journalists on Saturday morning, a day after President Donald Trump announced he was banning the outlet and two others from the White House,” the Washington Sun reports.
“A Trump administration proposal to exclude some types of immigrants from the 2030 census might not expand the congressional map for Republicans, and could even result in fewer House seats in red states,” the New York Times reports.
“If congressional seats were redistributed based on recent census figures, excluding undocumented immigrants and other noncitizens without green cards could cause Texas to lose a congressional seat it would otherwise have gained.”
“In interviews and speeches, President Donald Trump has maintained that midterm politics don’t affect his decisions on Iran, that the war has been worth the cost, and that he would do it all over again despite Republicans bracing for defeat in November,” the Washington Post reports.
“But in some private conversation with advisers, Trump has signaled that he understands his decisions on the war have contributed to the especially poor political environment his party faces — making the president more intent on helping Republicans mitigate the expected losses.”
“Trump in recent weeks has become sober about the gravity of the political situation, listening intently as he is presented with often discouraging polling.”
CNN: “Across the midterm map, Republicans are finding ways to stand apart from a unpopular president as they scramble to keep their majorities in Congress.”
“The dynamic reflects how treacherous the political terrain has become for Republicans as the Democratic offensive stretches into deeply red states like Kansas, Texas and Florida. But it also represents a reversal from recent years, as Trump – who is famously vindictive against critics in his own party – and his political operation haven’t targeted defectors.”
“Ever since Theodore Roosevelt ventured into the wilderness of California’s Yosemite Valley in 1903 and emerged with a sweeping conservation policy, presidents in both parties have valued the country’s national parks,” the New York Times reports.
“The public has, too. Polling shows that Americans of all stripes and political persuasions overwhelmingly love their parks.”
“But President Trump’s administration has thrown the 433 sites managed by the National Park Service into turmoil, shifting funding and workers to pet projects in Washington, slashing staff across the country and scrubbing exhibits that it says ‘inappropriately disparage Americans.'”
“The Trump administration’s confidential deals with pharmaceutical companies to lower U.S. drug prices include inducements to raise drug prices overseas and promise protection from President Donald Trump’s tariffs,” the Washington Post reports.
“Stephen Miller is leading an unprecedented and intense White House drive across a host of government departments to accelerate the removal of undocumented immigrant children from the U.S. using tactics that critics say are cruel and racist and, in some cases, flout federal law, the Guardian has learned,” The Guardian reports.
“As deputy chief of staff at the White House, focused on immigration policy, Miller is seen as the mastermind and enforcer behind Donald Trump’s hardline anti-immigration agenda.”
“The Kennedy Center laid off more than a dozen employees Friday,” the Washington Post reports.
“The layoffs come as the center’s main building remains closed during a widening legal battle over President Donald Trump’s transformation of the national cultural institution.”
“Pete Hegseth has notched a number of firsts since coming to the Pentagon. The former Army National Guard major has rebranded his agency as the Department of War, waged a culture war against past diversity efforts and ousted a growing number of senior military leaders,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“This week, Hegseth narrowly dodged another distinction: he came within a whisker of becoming the first civilian defense chief to face an impeachment vote in the House of Representatives since Secretary of War William Belknap was impeached in 1876.”
“The Trump administration’s policy on deporting immigrants to third countries is unlawful, a federal appeals court ruled Friday, a decision that could halt a program that has already sent thousands of people to countries that are not their own,” the Washington Post reports.
“A large group of demonstrators locked arms to form a human chain around the Kennedy Center on Friday evening to protest President Trump’s efforts to close and remake the center in his image, amid speculation about a possible effort to demolish the building,” the New York Times reports.
“Hundreds of demonstrators, many of them performing artists and workers at the Kennedy Center, sang and played music as they circled the building and the sun set over the embattled cultural institution.”
Reuters: Trump declines to say whether he will tear down Kennedy Center.
“Republican candidates in some of the toughest House and Senate races have begun to break from President Trump on central parts of his agenda, a sign of the weight they believe some of his policy stances have placed on their election prospects,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The pushback by these candidates isn’t a wholesale rupture with the president. But it is a signal that voters in their states are rejecting elements of his policies on tariffs, the Iran war and data centers, among other issues.”
“President Trump said Friday he would demand drug companies split vaccines into five doses given in six-month intervals, claiming it would reduce autism rates,” the Washington Post reports.
“He did not specify which immunizations he was targeting.”
Said Trump: “The vaccine size will be much, much less. I think you’re going to see a massive reduction in autism. And that’s a big deal, a very big deal. We’re going to be recommending that and actually demanding it.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.