Supremes slap SWAT stupidity, DOGE cuts inspire innovation and other commentary
The Supreme Court just unanimously opened the door for 'innocent injured parties to hold federal law enforcement officers accountable,' notes the Washington Examiner's editorial board.
In 2017, a SWAT team led by an FBI special agent raided the wrong Atlanta house, but a lower court tossed the homeowners' lawsuit. Huh?
'The Federal Tort Claims Act was amended in 1974 specifically to allow' for compensation in such cases.
The 11th Circuit had 'held that unless a source of federal law 'specifically prescribes' a course of conduct,' any 'official act is immune from suit'; now the Supremes have 'rejected that test,' demanding 'a rule that is more in spirit with the 1974 amendments.'
Libertarian: DOGE Cuts Inspire Innovation
'Downsizing pushed the Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to adopt tech solutions that it could have tried years ago,' cheers C. Jarrett Dieterle at Reason.
DOGE cuts are 'clearly forcing agencies to think more creatively and to explore new ideas for increasing efficiency and cutting costs.'
Look at the agency tasked with approving labels on cans and bottles of alcohol: 'The TTB is exploring the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to help with the label review and approval process,' though 'before the staff reductions, it does not appear to have been on the agency's radar.'
Plus: The pre-DOGE TTB had expanded its own brief 'to police the naming protocols of orange-tinted Pinot Grigio. If downsizing is what it takes to pull Washington back from that sort of micromanagement, we need more of it.'
Mideast beat: Jewish State Here To Stay
'The meaning of [Israel's] attack on Iran is unmistakable,' argues Commentary's John Podhoretz: 'Israel will not allow itself to be wiped off the earth.'
Rather, 'it will thrive, as successful nations that defend themselves from evil and prevail in the wake of it always thrive.'
Indeed, it's proof 'Israel is now a reality' — it has 'legitimized itself' — and will 'endure, as the Jewish people have endured.'
'The sheer scale of the first night's sorties and attacks leaves one breathless,' indeed 'mute at the audacity of the planning and the magnificence (thus far) of the execution. And one wonders, yet again, if what is happening here is once more a sign not just of Israel finding its own salvation in Jewish self-rule — but of God's providence.'
Israeli opposition leader: A Nation United
'Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is my political rival,' Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid concedes at The Jerusalem Post, 'but his decision to strike Iran at this moment in time is the right one. The whole country is united in this moment, when faced with an enemy sworn to our destruction, nothing will divide us.'
Fact is, 'the Iranian regime has repeatedly said, without hesitation and without shame, that its ultimate goal is the destruction of the State of Israel,' and its actions such as funding 'terror organizations that do everything they can to murder Jews in Israel and abroad' bear that out.
'Israel isn't interested in destroying Iran'; 'we went to war for the only reason that justifies war — we had no choice. A nuclear Iran would have been an existential threat to the State of Israel. Iran cannot be a nuclear state. Not now. Not ever.'
Economist: Fed Owns Far Too Much US Debt
The Federal Reserve 'has become the largest single holder of U.S. national debt,' frets Judy Shelton at The Wall Street Journal.
It now 'owns $4.2 trillion in U.S. government debt in the form of Treasury bills, notes and bonds,' estimated to hit '$9.9 trillion in 2035 — more than double today's amount.'
Yet 'the central bank owned less than $500 billion in Treasurys before the 2008 global financial crisis' and Fed chief Jerome Powell in 2019 vowed to reduce the size of that portfolio.
'The ramifications of the nation's compromised debt funding raise disturbing questions about the commingling of government functions.'
One way out: 'Congress could rescind the Fed's authority to pay interest on reserve balances, which was granted in October 2008 as part of an emergency package' to push the central bank back toward traditional operations.
— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
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