Refunds Up. Still Not a Kingdom.

Before we jump into markets and whatever Washington managed to break this week, we want to acknowledge the passing of Rev. Jesse Jackson at 84. Agree with him on everything or not, he was a major figure in the American civil rights movement and founder of Rainbow PUSH. He spent decades shaping national conversations on race and politics. Policy can be debated. Impact should always be recognized.

Politics & Policy:

The Supreme Court handed President Trump a 6–3 reminder that even tariff warriors need congressional paperwork. In a decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Court ruled Trump didn’t have the authority under a 1977 emergency powers law to roll out his sweeping tariff plan — putting an estimated $175 billion in projected revenue on ice. Roberts’ message was simple: if you’re going to reshape global trade, you need clear authorization from Congress.

No creative shortcuts. No “trust me, it’s an emergency.” Washington just got a separation-of-powers refresher.

John Fetterman delivered the most honest line in Washington this week. Mocking nonstop Trump attacks from his own party, he shrugged: it “pays the bills.” Translation: outrage is a fundraising strategy. At least someone said it out loud.

In New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani wants to tax the “ultra-wealthy” or impose a 9.5% property tax hike to close a $5.4 billion deficit. Two months in, rainy day funds are tapped, NYPD positions are cut, and the bill is headed straight for property owners. Because nothing protects the working class like higher rent.

In Massachusetts, Democratic Auditor Diana DiZoglio is suing her own party after uncovering nearly $12 million in alleged public assistance fraud. Voters approved an audit with 72% support. Lawmakers? Less enthusiastic. Her argument is simple: if there’s nothing to hide, open the books.

And now the current administration is considering restrictions on social media access for minors, similar to moves abroad. After a decade of Silicon Valley monetizing kids’ attention, the idea of guardrails isn’t exactly radical. The surprise would be Congress actually acting on it.

Markets & Money:

The IRS is sending out bigger refunds this year. The average tax refund so far is about $2,290 — roughly 11% higher than at this same point last filing season. It’s not a winning lottery ticket, but it’s enough to ease the sting of a few inflated grocery trips. That said, Americans are filing more slowly than last year. We like the refund. We just don’t like the paperwork.

Mortgage rates also dropped this week to their lowest level since September 2022. After two years of watching housing affordability get squeezed, this is the first real pressure release in a while. Lower rates don’t magically fix supply shortages, but they do shift the math — and housing runs on math, not optimism.

Refunds are up. Rates are down. It’s not a fireworks show, but it’s movement in the right direction.

Business & Culture:

Whole Foods is ripping out its palm-scanning checkout system nationwide. The “pay with your hand” experiment is over. Turns out most Americans don’t want to link their biometric data to buy groceries. Convenience has limits.

Wendy’s is closing up to 358 locations after an 11.3% sales drop. Then billionaire investor Nelson Peltz called it undervalued — and the stock jumped nearly 19%. Sales down. Stock up. Wall Street logic.

Palantir just moved its headquarters from Denver to Miami. No speeches. Just another company choosing Florida over higher-tax states. Businesses don’t debate incentives. They follow them.

Meanwhile, California gas jumped 40 cents in two weeks, now averaging $4.58 a gallon versus $2.92 nationally. Supply tight. Refining down. Predictable result.

Incentives matter.

Winners:

Budget Travelers:
If you book your flight on a Friday, you’ll save about 3% compared to weekend bookings. Fly on a Friday instead of Sunday? Savings can hit 8%. And if you can swing August, it’s the cheapest month to travel — averaging $120 less per ticket, nearly 29% cheaper than December. Turns out flexibility beats complaining about airfare.

Logan Paul:
The WWE personality and internet entrepreneur just set a world record, selling his 1998 Japanese Pikachu Illustrator card — graded PSA gem mint 10 — for over $16.4 million. Somewhere, a parent who threw out Pokémon cards in 2002 is staring at a wall in silence.

Losers:

Donald Trump (Tariff Timeout):
A conservative-majority Supreme Court shut down his sweeping tariff policy, ruling he lacked the authority under a 1977 emergency powers law. It’s a tough look for a president who framed tariffs as a winning hand — and now up to $175 billion hangs in the balance. If the ruling triggers large-scale refund claims from foreign governments, the embarrassment won’t just be political. It could come with a very real price tag.

Kamala Harris (Again):
Prediction market Polymarket had a brutal week for the Vice President. At one point, bettors rated the probability of Jesus Christ returning in 2026 as higher than Kamala Harris winning the next election. When traders are pricing in the Second Coming ahead of your campaign prospects… that’s not momentum.

America Decides:

Last week’s poll proved one thing: marijuana legalization is still a live wire.

47% of you said no — don’t legalize it.
44% said yes.

That’s not a landslide. That’s a country split straight down the middle. For something that’s already legal in many states, the national appetite clearly isn’t settled. Some see tax revenue and personal freedom. Others see long-term costs and cultural drift.

This Week

You need an ID to board a plane, rent a car, buy cold medicine, enter a bar, open a bank account, or pretty much function as an adult in modern America.

But when it comes to voting — the one thing that actually decides who runs the country — the left suddenly pretends asking for ID is some kind of constitutional crisis.

Apparently showing ID is common sense everywhere… except at the ballot box.

So let’s ask it plainly:

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We’re told this is the land of the free.

Income taxed.
Home taxed.
Car taxed.
Food taxed.
Clothes taxed.

At what point are you not living free — just paying rent to the system?

Watch this. Then tell us: free… or just heavily billed?

A new report says Social Security is projected to run short on funds to pay full retirement benefits by 2032. The program currently sends checks to about 70 million Americans, funded largely through payroll taxes.

The problem? Fewer workers are supporting more retirees, birth rates are down, and people are living longer — which means benefits are being paid out for more years. The math isn’t political. It’s demographic.

Translation: The safety net is aging faster than the workforce paying for it.

The average Social Security check sits around $1,900 a month — not exactly yacht money. But a new FinanceBuzz study found 15 warm-weather Southern cities where median monthly housing costs come in under $1,850.

In theory, that means some retirees could cover their biggest expense with Social Security alone. No hedge fund required. Just geography.

Translation: You may not be rich — but in the right zip code, you can feel like it.

The U.S. economy grew at a 1.4% annual rate in the fourth quarter, according to the Commerce Department’s advance estimate. Economists were expecting 3%.

That’s not just a miss — that’s half the forecast. It also marks a sharp slowdown from the third quarter’s 4.4% growth. Momentum cooled fast heading into year-end.

Translation: The economy didn’t stall — but it definitely took its foot off the gas.

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Living alone now comes with a five-figure premium. Zillow says the typical rent is $1,745 a month — up 30% in five years — and solo renters are absorbing the full hit. On average, that’s $10,470 more per year compared to splitting the same apartment. Couples sharing that rent effectively save nearly $21,000 annually.

Same unit. Same lease. Very different math.

Translation: Independence is great. It just bills monthly.

Ohio is flirting with eliminating property taxes — but there’s a catch the size of a grocery receipt. Governor Mike DeWine warned that if voters approve the constitutional amendment, the state could need to raise sales taxes as high as 20% to replace roughly $24 billion in lost revenue.

The proposal is still gathering signatures, with supporters pitching it as relief for homeowners. But shifting taxes doesn’t erase them — it just moves them.

Translation: You might save on your house… and pay it back at the cash register.

A judge just ruled that “chicken wings” don’t actually have to come from a chicken’s wing.

The decision stems from an Illinois man who sued Buffalo Wild Wings after discovering that his boneless wings were, in fact, not wings at all. He sought $10 million in damages for the emotional trauma of biting into… chicken nuggets with branding.

The court disagreed.

Translation: If you ordered boneless wings expecting bones, that one’s on you.

Elon Musk says Tesla plans to sell its fully autonomous two-seat Cybercab for $30,000 or less by 2027. The first unit just rolled off the line at Giga Texas, and Musk confirmed directly that yes — that sub-$30K price point is the goal before 2027.

A driverless robotaxi for the price of a mid-tier sedan. That’s the bet.

Translation: The future of transportation might not need a steering wheel — or a tip.

A long-hidden 8mm film shot by Dallas repairman Orville Nix on November 22, 1963, is back in the spotlight. The footage allegedly captures a shadowy figure near the grassy knoll — the very spot many witnesses claimed gunfire came from. Unlike the Zapruder film, Nix’s camera was pointed directly toward that fence line.

Now, Nix’s granddaughter is suing the federal government to recover the original film, which hasn’t been seen since 1978 and was reportedly seized during analysis. A judge has allowed the case to move forward. The government says it doesn’t have it.

Translation: Sixty-plus years later, America is still asking the same question — and apparently still missing the tape.

Florida lawmakers voted to rename Palm Beach International Airport after President Donald Trump, with the State Senate approving the measure 25–11 after it cleared the House.

The price tag? A proposed $5.5 million for new signage, branding, and website updates. Because apparently swapping out a few letters requires a small infrastructure bill. The Senate’s current budget only sets aside $2.75 million — so even the rebrand might need negotiating.

Translation: One of the smoothest airports in the country just got a new name — and a very expensive label maker.

Carl Grillmair, a respected astrophysicist known for helping discover water on a distant planet, was shot and killed on the front porch of his California home this week. The 67-year-old was found with a gunshot wound in Llano, a rural area of northern Los Angeles County, after authorities responded to reports of an assault early Monday morning.

Colleagues described his work as “ingenious,” noting that finding water on another planet is one of the strongest indicators that conditions may support life. An investigation is ongoing.

Translation: He spent his career exploring the mysteries of the cosmos — and now his own death leaves questions much closer to home.

This week the Supreme Court blocked a sitting president’s signature economic policy. Publicly. Decisively. Constitutionally.

That’s not monarchy. That’s the system working exactly as designed.

Which makes you wonder — where are all the “democracy is dead” chants now?

The pink-haired outrage interns who’ve been hyperventilating into megaphones for the past year might want to take a seat. The Constitution is still intact. The courts still have teeth. The president just got checked. That’s called checks and balances — not tyranny.

Turns out America isn’t powered by hashtag campaigns and pre-printed protest signs. It’s powered by institutions that actually work.

And while a handful of billionaire-funded activist groups keep the professional protest circuit well caffeinated, most Americans are doing something radical: working actual jobs, paying actual bills, and trying to build actual lives.

The republic didn’t collapse. The guardrails held. The system corrected itself.

So maybe — just maybe — it’s time to retire the cardboard “dictator” signs, unplug the portable speakers, and focus on something productive.

Because if this is what “authoritarian rule” looks like, it’s awfully constitutional.

America isn’t ruled by a king.

It’s ruled by laws.

And that’s the part the outrage industry never seems to mention.

Now it’s your turn.

Hit reply and tell us what you think. Agree. Disagree. Vent. Celebrate. Rage type if you need to. Got a take? A theory? An outrage you’ve been holding in all week?

Send it. We read them. All of them.

The good, the bad, and the “you forgot to mention…”

We’re all ears.