History, schmistory — MAGA has its eyes on the future
Advertisement
However, if the issues that MAGA Americans find most vexing are either solved or substantially improved (by data and objective sources), their continued contempt for history will be justified and little attention will be given to precedent. In this scenario, all established American institutions will be in some form of jeopardy.
I attribute the continued success of the MAGA ideology and its practices to a desire of many to deal with problems simply and in a straightforward manner. I also contend that this methodology is itself too simple and lacks the depth needed to solve complex problems.
Advertisement
As our Framers taught us all those years ago, successful outcomes are the result of intelligent, detailed, and informed compromise, which, sadly, is in short supply these days.
Peter Vangsness
Medway
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
G-7 agrees to exclude U.S. companies from 15% minimum tax
June 29 (UPI) -- Group of Seven nations agreed to exempt U.S. companies from a 15% minimum corporate tax rate, the countries said in a joint statement. The nonbinding deal was announced Saturday but still requires approval from the 38-member Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development that established the 2021 agreement on taxing companies. G-7 nations are part of the OECED. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had proposed a "side-by-side solution" for American-headquartered companies that would be exempt from the Income Inclusion Rule and Undertaxed Profits Rule "in recognition of the existing U.S. minimum tax rules to which they are subject." The massive spending bill now being considered in Congress originally included a "revenge tax" that would have imposed a levy of up to 20% on investments from countries that taxed U.S. companies. "I have asked the Senate and House to remove the Section 899 protective measure from consideration in the One, Big, Beautiful Bill," Bessent wrote in a multi-post thread on X on Thursday. The House has approved the massive legislation and the Senate is considering it. "It is an honorable compromise as it spares us from the automatic retaliations of Section 899 of the Big, Beautiful Bill," Italian Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti told local media. "We are not claiming victory, but we obtained some concessions as the U.S. pledged to engage in OECD negotiations on fair taxation," an unnamed French official told Politico Europe. The official called the "revenge tax" a potentially "huge burden for French companies." Trump has criticized this provision because he said it would limit sovereignty and send U.S. tax revenues to other countries. "The Trump administration remains vigilant against all discriminatory and extraterritorial foreign taxes applied against Americans," Bessent wrote Thursday. Trump has imposed a July 9 deadline for U.S. trading partners to lower taxes on foreign goods, threatening high duties on the worst offenders, including 50% on goods from the 27 European Union members. In April, a baseline tariff was imposed on most U.S. trading partners, with higher rates on certain companies and products. In 2021, nearly 140 countries agreed to tax multinational companies at the 15% minimum, regardless of where they were headquartered. In late April, the European Union, Britain, Japan and Canada agreed to exempt the United States from the 15% minimum tax on companies. "Delivery of a side-by-side system will facilitate further progress to stabilize the international tax system, including a constructive dialogue on the taxation of the digital economy and on preserving the tax sovereignty of all countries," the joint statement read. The agreement, according to the statement, would ensure that any substantial risks identified "with respect to the level playing field, or risks of base erosion and profit shifting, are addressed to preserve the common policy objectives of the side-by-side system." The G-7 includes Britain, France, Germany, Italy in Europe, as well as Canada, Japan and U.S. Before 2014, the group was known as the G-8 until Russia was expelled after annexing the Crimea region of Ukraine. The chairs of the House and Senate committees responsible for tax policy cheered the agreement. "We applaud President Trump and his team for protecting the interests of American workers and businesses after years of congressional Republicans sounding the alarm on the Biden Administration's unilateral global tax surrender under Pillar 2," Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, and Missouri Rep. Jason Smith, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, said in a press release. The agreement also, however, has its critics. "The U.S. is trying to exempt itself by arm-twisting others, which would make the tax deal entirely useless," Markus Meinzer, director of policy at the Tax Justice Network, told Politico Europe. "A ship with a U.S.-sized hole in its hull won't float." Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
Americans Detained After Trying to Send Over 1,000 Bibles to North Korea
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Six Americans were initially detained on Friday in South Korea for trying to throw more than a thousand plastic bottles filled with food, religious texts, money, and USB sticks in the sea to be carried to North Korea, the Associated Press reported. Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul for comment via email on Sunday. Why It Matters The use of propaganda balloons dates back to the Korean War and continued through the Cold War. Activists in North and South Korea extensively used these methods to disseminate psychological messages across the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two neighbors, which are technically still at war given a peace treaty hasn't been signed since the end of major hostilities in 1953. Over the years, activists have sent leaflets critical of North Korea's government and USB sticks filled with information and South Korean pop music over into North Korea, while North Korea has sent balloons carrying trash over. What To Know The Americans, who local outlet Yonhap, reported ranged in age from their 20s to 50s, were apprehended on Friday from a restricted area on Ganghwa Island near the North Korean border. They were first spotted by military patrol and then handed over to the police. The group was reportedly attempting to throw around 1,600 plastic bottles filled with rice, miniature Bibles, $1 bills and USB sticks into restricted waters in hopes they would drift into North Korea, according to the AP. Police told the outlet that the Americans are being investigated, and it is not yet clear what is on the USB sticks. They were originally suspected of violating the country's disasters and safety act, according to Reuters, which restricts activities in "risk zones," near the border. Yonhap said the police did not find the need to further detain the individuals and released them. According to the 2020 World Christian Database, over half of the population in North Korea agnostic, with around 15 percent atheist, and less than 1 percent Christian. Years ago, the South Korean parliament approved legislation that criminalized flying propaganda leaflets towards North Korea. But in 2023, the country's Constitutional Court struck it down, arguing it restricted free speech. Earlier in June, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung suspended various anti-North Korea broadcasts and balloon shipments in an effort to calm tensions between the neighboring countries. The arrest comes just two weeks after police detained an activist for flying balloons off the island with the hopes to make it to North Korea. Last summer, Fighters for a Free North Korea, a South Korean activist group, reportedly sending 300,000 leaflets, 5,000 USB drives, and 3,000 U.S. $1 bills. Over the course of four months, between May to November last year, North Korea reportedly flew about 7,000 balloons towards South Korea in 32 separate instances, according to the AP. North Korean defectors fill empty plastic bottles with rice and face masks to send them toward North Korea by balloons in Seoul on June 18, 2020. North Korean defectors fill empty plastic bottles with rice and face masks to send them toward North Korea by balloons in Seoul on June 18, 2020. AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon What People Are Saying South Korea's Defense Ministry said earlier in June that the president's decision to shut down loudspeakers broadcasting anti-North Korea propaganda was part of efforts "to restore trust in inter-Korean relations and promote peace on the Korean Peninsula." What Happens Next It appears that the Americans have been released but may still under investigation.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Israeli court postpones Netanyahu's corruption trial after Trump calls for case to be dropped
The Jerusalem District Court agreed to postpone Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial — just hours after President Trump called for the case to be dropped while suggesting American aid could hang in the balance over the decision. The court revealed Sunday that Netanyahu will not have to testify for the next two weeks due to diplomatic and national security issues, two days after the judge initially rejected the premier's repeated requests to have the trial delayed. The new order came after Trump took to Truth Social and slammed the corruption trial — which sees Netanyahu accused of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases — as a 'political witch hunt.' 4 President Trump called on Israel to drop the corruption charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. AP Advertisement 4 Trump claimed the trial would interfere with cease-fire efforts in Gaza and the truce with Iran, warning that America could stop flowing aid to Israel if the case proceeds. AP 'It is terrible what they are doing in Israel to Bibi Netanyahu,' Trump wrote. 'He is a War Hero, and a Prime Minister who did a fabulous job working with the United States to bring Great Success in getting rid of the dangerous Nuclear threat in Iran.' 'The United States of America spends Billions of Dollar a year, far more than on any other Nation, protecting and supporting Israel. We are not going to stand for this,' he warned. Advertisement Trump also claimed that having Netanyahu occupied with the case would interfere with cease-fire and hostage release efforts in Gaza, as well as the fragile truce with Iran. 'Thank you again, @realDonaldTrump. Together, we will make the Middle East Great Again!' Netanyahu replied. 4 Netanyahu's trial has gone on for four years and has been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the wars with Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. AP 4 Netanyahu maintains that the war will not end in Gaza until Hamas is eliminated, a goal he has previously claimed supersedes the safe return of the hostages and humanitarian aid to Gaza. REUTERS Advertisement A White House official said Trump identified with Netanyahu and made the personal decision to back the embattled prime minister during the ride back from the NATO summit last week, Axios reported. The latest delay to the trial, which has stretched on for four years, has led to many Israeli officials condemning the prime minister for allegedly using his executive powers to stall the case. The leader of the opposition Democrats party, Yair Golan, said Trump's proposal shows how prolonging the war in Gaza personally benefits Netanyahu, who has refused to end the fighting until the terror group is completely eliminated — a goal with no set timeline. Advertisement 'Trump's proposal proves: The hostages are held by Hamas, but they are captive to Netanyahu's interests,' Golan wrote on X. Netanyahu stands accused of accepting more than $200,000 from wealthy businessmen and granting hundreds of millions of dollars worth of regulatory benefits to a telecom owner in exchange for favorable news coverage.
