Sunday January 11th

Word of the Year: Tense.

And it’s not even February.

ICE is back in the crosshairs after the tragedy in Minneapolis, and the left wasted no time turning it into outrage theater. Debate policy. Debate borders. Republicans do that. But treating a loss of life like a political prop is morally bankrupt. America should demand better.

Meanwhile, reality doesn’t wait. Venezuela is still in play. Greenland suddenly matters. Iran is back in the headlines. And unemployment numbers are quietly warning working Americans that jobs are disappearing — fast. Those “side hustles” you laughed about? Might be time to take them seriously.

That optimistic New Year energy didn’t last long.

Let’s stick to reality — not narratives.

Politics & Policy

Trump unveiled a $100B plan to reboot Venezuela’s oil and flood the market. Energy dominance beats climate sermons. Every time.

A man attacked Vice President JD Vance’s home with a hammer. No protest. No debate. Just violence. Notice how the outrage vanished once the target wasn’t a Democrat.

Seattle keeps collapsing under hyper-woke leadership. Drug use ignored. Encampments grow. Businesses flee. Crime rises. City leaders call it compassion. Everyone else calls it failure.

Markets & Money

Mortgage rates just hit a three-year low after Trump stepped in and ordered $200B in mortgage bond purchases. Markets moved. Buyers got relief. Decisive leadership still works.

Trump also moved to block Wall Street from buying up single-family homes. Houses are for families — not hedge funds.

And defense contractors were told no dividends, no buybacks until they deliver. If taxpayers are paying, performance comes first.

Business & Culture

Starlink delivered free internet to Venezuela after Maduro’s arrest. While governments stalled, the private sector flipped the switch. Results beat press conferences.

Jamie Dimon made nearly a billion dollars running JPMorgan. Not a typo. That’s what happens when you keep the world’s biggest bank standing while Washington plays economic roulette.

Hilton cut ties with a franchisee who refused rooms to ICE agents. Contracts still matter. Federal law still applies. Political stunts don’t get a loyalty discount.

Winners:

Lottery Winner: A Georgian finally claimed the $983M Mega Millions jackpot months later. Cash option taken — $453.6M before taxes. Patience paid. Publix forever.

Basically Any Oil Company: Landman wasn’t fiction. Energy is back. Drilling optimism is rising. Rigs are running. Oil is in charge again.

Losers:

Credit Card Companies: Trump called for a one-year 10% cap on credit card interest. After years of 30% APR abuse, someone finally said “enough.” Banks aren’t thrilled.

Credit Scores: Scores are sliding across multiple states, hitting Missouri, Georgia, and Delaware hardest. Higher rates, higher prices, tighter credit — and Americans feel it first.

America Decides:

Last Week

65% said Absolutely — Trump and America were right to capture Maduro. The U.S. leads. We acted like it.

Most of the rest: morally right, legally messy. Fair.

The opposition? Blue hair. Name rhymes with Daren.

This Week

Trump wants to cap credit card interest rates.
Simple question. Where do you stand?

A few minutes.
A lot of uncomfortable truths.
When did this become normal?
He’s absolutely right — and every American should hear this.

The mastermind behind Minnesota’s $250M pandemic welfare scam just got a hard reality check. A judge ordered the seizure of her Porsche, diamond jewelry, luxury handbags, and millions in cash. Prosecutors called it one of the largest fraud schemes of the COVID era — and now the loot is going back where it belongs. Turns out taxpayer-funded luxury doesn’t age well in court.

Translation: Steal from taxpayers, lose the toys.

More than 40 million Americans now turn to ChatGPT for medical advice, with one in eight using it daily. Not because it’s trendy — because healthcare is expensive, confusing, and out of reach. Experts are sounding alarms about misinformation, but they’re missing the point: when the system breaks, people improvise.

Translation: Healthcare got so bad Americans started Googling symptoms… and upgraded.

The U.S. trade deficit just plunged to its lowest level since 2009 — collapsing nearly in half as Trump’s tariffs kicked in. From $136B in March to under $30B now. Economists missed it. Markets felt it. Turns out protecting American production actually works.

Translation: America stopped getting fleeced — and the numbers prove it.

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American travelers are landing overseas only to be told their passports were quietly canceled — without warning. One man flew 24 hours to Thailand just to be turned around because his passport was flagged as “lost or stolen”… even though it never was. No notice. No explanation. Just bureaucratic incompetence ruining vacations. Welcome to modern government efficiency — where the systems never fail, they just fail you.

Translation: The government messed up — and you paid for it.

A Las Vegas business just handed out $350,000 in bonuses after a record year — up to $10,000 per employee. Speed Vegas grew customers by 7% even as city tourism slipped. No bailouts. No slogans. Just performance, profit, and sharing the upside.

Translation: When businesses win, workers win — not when government gets bigger.

America’s Playground is getting a billion-dollar facelift after years of storms, erosion, and neglect. The plan includes rebuilding the iconic boardwalk and adding 1,500 new homes, all in hopes of reviving Coney Island beyond hot dogs and summer weekends. Big money, big promises, and a shot at relevance again.

Translation: Break it long enough, then spend a fortune trying to fix what should’ve been maintained.

Bill Ackman slammed California’s proposed wealth tax as government expropriation — because that’s exactly what it is. The plan would hit residents worth over $1B with a one-time 5% asset grab, conveniently as the state stares down an $18B budget hole. Wealth taxes have failed everywhere they’ve been tried, but California insists this time will be different. Spoiler: it won’t.

Translation: When politicians overspend, they call confiscation “fairness.”

A UK radio station is censoring a lyric from Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA because modern sensitivities couldn’t handle a song written in 1984 about the Vietnam War. The line was part of an anti-war narrative, but context lost to the outrage algorithm. Even protest songs aren’t safe anymore.

Translation: Wokeness now edits history — one lyric at a time.

Cincinnati unveiled a new $3 million color-changing LED sign to replace the old one drivers complained they couldn’t read. Officials say it’s bold and modern. Residents are debating whether clearer letters were worth seven figures.

Translation: Millions spent. Same name. Same city.

Pizza used to be cheap, filling, and everywhere. Now it’s overpriced, app-taxed, and losing ground. Once the #2 restaurant category, pizza has slipped to sixth as chains shutter locations and file for bankruptcy. Higher prices, delivery fees, health fads, and too many “reinventions” turned a simple win into a mess.

Translation: When you ruin the basics, people stop buying.

Let’s stop pretending this is about policy.

This is a movement that no longer stands for anything — only against whatever threatens its power.

They chant “No Kings” while defending an actual dictator in Venezuela. Apparently tyranny is fine if it’s anti-America.

They oppose fraud investigations — especially in Minnesota — because accountability is inconvenient. Billions disappear? Don’t ask questions. Asking is now “harmful.”

They attacked a 23-year-old journalist for noticing the math didn’t work. Not the fraud. Not the money. The messenger.

They stayed silent when their VP favorite quietly ducked re-election. No outrage. No curiosity. No “democracy dies in darkness.”

They ignored Iranian women risking their lives for freedom. Courage only matters when it polls well.

They block ICE today — while cheering the same enforcement under Obama and Biden. Same laws. Same actions. Totally different outrage.

They propose nothing.
They build nothing.
They fix nothing.

They just oppose.

Free speech — approved only.
Compassion — paid for by others.
Equity — even when everyone loses.

This isn’t leadership.
It’s nihilism in moral language.

A movement that stands for nothing will defend anything — as long as it avoids accountability.

Your turn.

Is this a collapse — or exactly how it was designed to function?

Reply with your honest take. We read every one.