Zak Taylor

Labor

After cars came around, horses became useless, so we stopped breeding & feeding them. To wit: during the early 1900s, the US had 20-25 million horses...now we have just 2-4 million.

> @punchbowlnews.bsky.social

Fact-checking Trump's 2026 State of the Union address Trump made a series of exaggerated and false claims as he touted his administration's work on the economy, crime, immigration and more.

www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...

Since this will likely come up in the SOTU: Yes, US stock markets are up since Trump took office (14%).
But in the rest of the world, markets are up WAY more. Cumulative market gains are more than triple ours (43%)

www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?p...

Money in Politics Roundup — February 2026 These stories on campaign finance and influence peddling are shaping the midterms.

Since returning to office, Trump has added about $3 billion to his net worth. The scale of these profits, and the way he has monetized the White House to generate them, is unprecedented. Learn more in our latest Money in Politics Roundup: bit.ly/3MSYmBN

The Constitution made the American presidency. Trump has rejected that tradition The thing about a Constitutional order is that you're either in or out

I tried to break down the specifics of Trump's unconstitutional presidency.
open.substack.com/pub/goodpoli...

The Case For Billionaire Realism We can quibble with each other over the usefulness of class-warfare rhetoric—but conflict is inevitable.

“We’re clearly past the point at which the community of billionaires as it exists can be [merely] cajoled into allowing the democratic process to unfold as intended, and then respecting its outcomes“

Excellent from @brianbeutler.bsky.social. Two things to add. 1/

www.offmessage.net/p/the-case-f...

Two points:
*Neither getting on a plan, nor buying beer is a constitutional right
*You don't need to prove citizenship to buy a beer or get on a plane - that is what the SAVE Act calls for, which will clearly disenfranchise lots of people

Trump, July 19: "All three nuclear sites in Iran were completely destroyed and/or OBLITERATED. It would take years to bring them back into service."

Witkoff, Sunday: "They're probably a week away from having industrial-grade bomb-making material."

The SAVE Act: Voter Suppression as Health Policy You may be aware that the Senate is continuing its consideration of the abysmal SAVE Act, but you may not realize the critical ways that this legislation operates as a political determinant of health ...

The SAVE Act is a dangerous voter suppression law poorly cloaked in concerns about election integrity. One overlooked narrative is how this operates as a key political determinant of health bc it's harder to navigate these burdens if sick/disabled. My take:
mirandayaver.substack.com/p/the-save-a...

Yes, this!

The tariffs ruling is the right result from a terrible process The conservative justices — even the ones who ruled against Trump — are making it up as they go.

New in PN: The tariffs ruling is the right result from a terrible process

"Even though this particular case turned out correctly, it highlights that the six conservative justices — even the ones who ruled against Trump — have radical anti-constitutional ideas about how American democracy works."

TS LOMBARD: “.. The immediate narrative around Q4 GDP is that the shutdown did it!!!! .. The thing is, the economy is slowing .. The simple truth is less payroll, less spending.” 👀

The SAVE Act is a poll tax. New passports cost $165, renewals cost $130, birth certificates cost $15-40. So, the real purpose of the SAVE Act is to prevent poor people (and especially poor women) from voting.

And what's the objective of a war on Iran? I thought we totally destroyed Tehran's nuclear program last summer (though I suspect this is the real reason) and incapacitated their terror networks. And I thought Trump was against "stupid" "endless" wars for regime change. Seems like just another flex.

Situation in #Jalisco, Mexico appears to be very serious. Reports that Guardia Nacional UH-60 was hit by ground fire (slight damage) which indicates the cartel fighters are very heavily armed and engaging directly with security forces. 1/
www.facebook.com/share/p/16er...

The tariffs are a TRIPLE transfer of wealth from millions of consumers to few corporations:
1: tariffs raise prices on consumers & thereby raise profits for corps.
2: tariff refunds will go to corps, not consumers
3: wealthy investors (allegedly Howard Lutnick) may have purchased refund rights.

‘Don’t go to the US – not with Trump in charge’: the UK tourist with a valid visa detained by ICE for six weeks Karen Newton was in America on the trip of a lifetime when she was shackled, transported and held for weeks on end. With tourism to the US under increasing strain, she says, ‘If it can happen to me, i...

This article claims that ICE agents get a bonus for each person they detain, and there's no penalty for wrongful detention. Therefore ICE agents detain anyone for whom they can make a prima facie case. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Map showing tens of thousands of protests across the US between Trump's inauguration last year and January 31, 2026.

The volume & geographic distribution of protest nationwide during year 1 of Trump's second term was extraordinary.

Russell Vought, Trump’s Shadow President From the wholesale gutting of federal agencies to the ongoing government shutdown, Russell Vought has drawn the road map for Trump’s second term. Vought has consolidated power to an extent that inside...

This is an excellent @propublica.org long read on one of the most dangerous men in the U.S.: Russell Vought.

Every one of these things is as much illegal hot garbage as using IEEPA. There is no sudden "international payments problem."

What’s Iran’s capacity to launch terror attacks in EU or US? That used to be a major concern. Is it no longer an issue?

Bombing Venezuela Won’t Solve the Maduro Problem Historically, even overwhelming air and missile attacks rarely achieve strategic objectives.

Airpower by itself, without skilled forces on the ground, has a terrifically awful failure rate at producing regime change, or even getting concessions, as Mike O’Hanlon and I wrote about a couple months ago in the Venezuela context: (7/11)
nationalinterest.org/feature/bomb...

S&P 500 vs RoW... worst start to a year in more than 3 decades... but this chart looks much different if we used SPX EW Augur Infinity

BREAKING. Structural things remain structural

I recall that, back during the 1980s-1990s, proposals for a national ID card were furiously rejected by Evangelical Christians and the Right as "big govt" and a tool of the anti-Christ.

Three American Speeches at Munich, and Plenty of Confusion

1/Just back from Munich Security Conference. A few takeaways:
1.Old transatlantic alliance based on taken for granted trust is over (one official described it as a funeral).
2.US might talk nice but still is on a collision course w/Europe. 3.US firms stand to lose.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/15/w...

The truth about population decline Arguments about the dangers of falling fertility deserve much closer scrutiny

Very good Martin Wolf column on the great fertility panic.

I’ve come to agree with him that it matters far less how many people there are and far more exactly what they are doing with their time.

giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...