First and foremost, a heartfelt Happy Fathers’ Day to all the dads out there.
by Gina Heeb, AnnaMaria Andriotis, and Josh Dawsey, Wall Street Journal, June 13, 2025 (electronic edition)
Excerpt:
Should Walmart or Amazon decide to introduce crypto-based payment systems that sidestep traditional banking networks, it would undoubtedly send shockwaves through the financial sector, rattling banks and card networks alike.
With expansive customer bases, extensive data resources, and considerably lighter regulatory constraints, retail and tech giants have long been seen as formidable challengers to banks, particularly smaller regional and community lenders.
DRH note: Given my libertarian leanings, you might surmise my favorite descriptor in the second paragraph above.
by Patrick Commins, The Guardian, June 10, 2025.
Excerpts:
Economists are beginning to argue that the ongoing hikes in tobacco excise have lost their efficacy in reducing smoking rates and are instead fueling a burgeoning black market for cigarettes.
They propose either freezing or reducing the excise rate while Australia intensifies efforts against illicit tobacco. However, a public health advocate cautioned lawmakers against being “duped” into implementing a drastic tax reduction.
And:
In the last decade, the excise rate per cigarette has surged from 46 cents to $1.40, now accounting for $28 of the average $40 cost for a pack of 20 cigarettes.
For a while, the correlation between rising taxes and declining smoking rates seemed beneficial, alongside increasing revenue. However, after reaching a peak of $16.3 billion in 2019-20, federal excise revenue has plummeted.
The latest budget projects tobacco excise revenue will dwindle to just $7.4 billion in the current financial year—the lowest since 2012-13—and is expected to decline further to $6.7 billion by the decade’s end.
Rather than a rapid decrease in smoking rates, analysts point to a dramatic rise in black market tobacco availability in recent years.
In the 2019-20 fiscal year, authorities seized illegal tobacco equivalent to 605.8 million cigarettes at the border. By 2022-23, that number had ballooned to 2.6 billion cigarettes, before slightly reducing to 2.2 billion in 2023-24.
DRH comment: I have a vague recollection of the Canadian government imposing a hefty tax of about $5 per pack in the 1990s, which would be over $10 today. Growing up in Canada, I thought of my fellow citizens as particularly law-abiding (though I’m not sure how accurate that perception was). Yet, we started hearing tales of boats crossing the St. Lawrence, packed with cigarettes from the cheaper U.S. market.
by Elizabeth Nolan Brown, Reason, July 2025.
Excerpts:
“I don’t want the government telling me how many calories are in my Big Mac or that I can’t add salt to my fries,” Sean Hannity proclaimed on Fox News back in 2010. “I enjoy junk food. I love McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, and Kentucky Fried Chicken.”
This sentiment resonated widely among conservatives of that time, who often viewed health initiatives as leftist encroachments. Some of this Republican resistance was fueled by a genuine opposition to market constraints, as seen when Democrats proposed sin taxes on sodas or limitations on sugary drink sizes. Yet, at times, it appeared more akin to a stubborn defiance.
And:
“The era of Big Gulp conservatism is behind us,” observes Breitbart writer John Carney. “We’re now in the protein- and blueberry-maxxing phase.” Carney, who humorously refers to yogurt topped with pomegranate seeds and blueberries as his “neofascist breakfast,” embraces this shift, stating, “I’d rather align with a healthier lifestyle.”
This narrative extends beyond MAGA supporters adopting health-conscious habits; many health enthusiasts have also gravitated toward MAGA, partly as a reaction against the Democratic Party’s centralized public health doctrines, especially during the pandemic. The evolution of this trend intertwines with concerns over fertility, dietary wars, evolving nutritional science, and the shifting landscape of social justice, all profoundly influenced by COVID-19.
DRH comment: When RFK, Jr. was appointed as the secretary of HHS, I quipped to a friend, who was surprisingly sympathetic towards Kennedy, “Brace for a nanny state on steroids.”
