USAID: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

Musk claimed that if USAID activities could even send him flimsy evidence that they were doing something useful, DOGE wouldn’t cut it. But Musk’s and Trump’s DOGE cut USAID programs that in total saved half a million to one million preventable deaths a year.

The head of USAID during W Bush’s presidency says that the idea that USAID is a Marxist organization is ridiculous. He said that while he was head, he moved the organization to the right and focused on free market reforms, and when Obama came in, he moved it to the left; the career people do what the people at the top tell them to do. Trump just came in and destroyed it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU8S13xYJNM

Middle Eastern oil producers are producing less oil because they can’t ship as much due to the war.

Middle Eastern oil producers are producing less oil because they can’t ship as much due to the war.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8MqBuaD5Xw

Trump moves to undo tax rule that Biden said would bring in $100 billion

“The Trump administration signaled a plan Friday to revoke a two-year-old tax rule designed to crack down on an arcane but highly lucrative tax avoidance tactic used by some of the largest and most complicated businesses.

If enacted, the Trump administration’s proposal would mean that large business partnerships no longer need to tell the IRS when they shift assets from one corporate entity to another. Those transactions, called “basis shifting,” have allowed businesses to dodge tens of billions of dollars in taxes, the Treasury Department alleged in the past, by illegally depreciating the same asset over and over again.

the IRS workforce has shrunk drastically under Trump. In the first months of his term, more than a quarter of the agency took buyout offers or otherwise left their jobs.”

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-moves-undo-tax-rule-204632497.html

Update on Iran War | Trump Failed with his Special Military Operation

Trump’s special military operation in Iran is failing. There’s no sign that the regime will be overthrown. The US and Israel can destroy a lot of equipment, but Iran still has a ground army and still has forces to keep control of the country. Without a massive ground invasion, there’s no sign that Trump’s special military operation will produce significant political results.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkGX7m_1AY4

Can Iran’s Regime Survive the War?

Israel previously destroyed Iranian mixers needed to make medium range ballistic missiles. This was supposed to keep production offline for at least a year, but the Chinese gave Iran the equipment needed to rebuild the program. Iran decided to build way more of these missiles than before. These are a huge threat to Israel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=donq0zCqf8Y

Mark Hertling and Ruben Gallego: A Rush to War | The Bulwark Podcast

The problem wasn’t that Trump didn’t evacuate Americans from the area in advance, that would cause a panic and give a tell that we were attacking. The problem is that we didn’t have a plan to get them out at all! That makes it seem like the administration did not expect Iran’s reaction even though a large and deadly reaction should be expected when we are trying to eliminate their regime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=givlddFLYv8

Trump told Iranians to surrender, but there was no one to surrender to. There were no revolutionary forces or US troops on the ground.

Trump told Iranians to surrender, but there was no one to surrender to. There were no revolutionary forces or US troops on the ground.

The US cut off their Farsi service before attacking Iran and telling their people to rise up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGb-u1XMl90

Would Regime Change Solve the Iran Challenge? | State of Play

Israel sees Iran as an existential threat and is happy to see Iran greatly weakened so Israel can have some temporary breathing room.

This doesn’t match American interests. Iran is not the same level of threat to the United States. Using blood, treasure, and munitions to temporarily weaken Iran is a large net bad for the US. This war is only worth it for the US if Iran gets a friendlier regime or has a long term change in behavior.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCkwFvuRvM0