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Opinion

The American Experiment Has Gone Down In Flames

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7 minute read

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By CRAIG STANFILL

 

What are we to do about it?

In the late eighteenth century, a group of unusually enlightened men gathered to plot rebellion against the most powerful military power of the day. Their grievances were many, set down in the Declaration of Independence. This storied document was many things, but above all it was a cry of rebellion against tyranny: against the arbitrary, capricious and unwelcome rule of the English over the colonies. It was a cry for liberty.

Against all odds, their rebellion succeeded and, a few years later, they met once again to devise a form of government that would be strong enough to see to those things that only government can do, such as military defense and the enablement of trade between the states. They were, however, leery of the dangers of tyranny, and so they crafted a unique form of government: a federal republic, with power dispersed among the several states, and numerous checks and balances to prevent abuse.

It was a noble experiment, and it served us well for centuries, but it is essential that we understand that this experiment has now failed in its primary purpose: to secure our liberties and to forestall tyrannical rule.

The evidence of this failure is indisputable to anyone with eyes to see. Unelected bureaucrats can impose their will on the citizenry in a way that so far exceeds the arbitrary and capricious rule of the English as to stagger the imagination.

They are imposing upon us regulations to all but outlaw vehicles powered by fossil fuels. They have decreed that a woman can become a man, and a man can become a woman, with utter disregard for biological reality.

They have colluded with the internet oligarchs to censor dissent and to silence their political opponents. They are using the mechanisms of law enforcement to protect their friends and to persecute their enemies.

The intelligence services are spying on Americans, and the FBI looks more and more like the secret police with every passing day. I am afraid of my government; I fear the knock on the door in the middle of the night. The grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence look trifling by comparison.

If the Democrats get their way, it will get even worse. They have made it clear that they intend to undo the system of checks and balances that have kept tyrants at bay for centuries. They will eliminate the Senate filibuster.

They will pack the Supreme Court and turn it into something like the Soviet Politburo, an organ of political power unaccountable to the people with absolute authority over every aspect of life. They will continue to push for non-citizen voting rights, allowing millions of illegal immigrants to vote in key local and state elections.

And, perhaps worst of all, power will be further centralized in Washington under the Democrats, who will willingly crackdown on local and state governments that don’t adopt their left-wing vision. In short, a form of absolute tyranny will be established.

Our constitution was designed to prevent this from happening. It is time for us to recognize that our experiment in self-rule has failed, and that we must do something about it before it is too late.

How did we get here? It all starts with federal money. Money is, and always has been, a profoundly corrupting influence in government. This has been true throughout history, going back to the Romans and even before.

Money is power. Money is control. Money gives you the ability to reward your friends and punish your enemies. Federal money has become a lever used by the bureaucrats to impose their will on state and local government, emasculating the federal system.

The Biden administration is giving away trillions of dollars in public funds to support its allies and to buy votes with the money they’ve taken from us. But no matter how many trillions of dollars they fritter away, it’s never enough, and they are on the verge of spending the country into bankruptcy. The system they have constructed will inevitably collapse, and take us down with it.

What then shall we do? How can we reclaim our lost freedom and save ourselves from the coming tyranny?

To do this, we need to be as bold as our opposition. They have stated that the American system is to be burned to the ground and replaced with something new. I agree, in part. Yes, burn it to the ground — but replace it instead with something old: the Federal Republic the founders intended us to have. This will require a massive — and I mean massive — reduction in the size and the scope of the government, and a return to its stated purpose, as eloquently laid out in the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States:

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

This, and no more.

Craig W. Stanfill (@craigwstanfill) is a computer scientist, software entrepreneur, and the author of the AI Dystopia science fiction series.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

2025 Federal Election

The Cost of Underselling Canadian Oil and Gas to the USA

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From the Frontier Centre for Public Policy

Canadians can now track in real time how much revenue the country is forfeiting to the United States by selling its oil at discounted prices, thanks to a new online tracker from the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. The tracker shows the billions in revenue lost due to limited access to distribution for Canadian oil.

At a time of economic troubles and commercial tensions with the United States, selling our oil at a discount to U.S. middlemen who then sell it in the open markets at full price will rob Canada of nearly $19 billion this year, said Marco Navarro-Genie, the VP of Research at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.

Navarro-Genie led the team that designed the counter.

The gap between world market prices and what Canada receives is due to the lack of Canadian infrastructure.

According to a recent analysis by Ian Madsen, senior policy analyst at the Frontier Centre, the lack of international export options forces Canadian producers to accept prices far below the world average. Each day this continues, the country loses hundreds of millions in potential revenue. This is a problem with a straightforward remedy, said David Leis, the Centre’s President. More pipelines need to be approved and built.

While the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) pipeline has helped, more is needed. It commenced commercial operations on May 1, 2024, nearly tripling Canada’s oil export capacity westward from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels daily. This expansion gives Canadian oil producers access to broader global markets, including Asia and the U.S. West Coast, potentially reducing the price discount on Canadian crude.

This is more than an oil story. While our oil price differential has long been recognized, there’s growing urgency around our natural gas exports. The global demand for cleaner energy, including Canadian natural gas, is climbing. Canada exports an average of 12.3 million GJ of gas daily. Yet, we can still not get the full value due to infrastructure bottlenecks, with losses of over $7.3 billion (2024). A dedicated counter reflecting these mounting gas losses underscores how critical this issue is.

“The losses are not theoretical numbers,” said Madsen. “This is real money, and Canadians can now see it slipping away, second by second.”

The Frontier Centre urges policymakers and industry leaders to recognize the economic urgency and ensure that infrastructure projects like TMX are fully supported and efficiently utilized to maximize Canada’s oil export potential. The webpage hosting the counter offers several examples of what the lost revenue could buy for Canadians. A similar counter for gas revenue lost through similarly discounted gas exports will be added in the coming days.

What Could Canada Do With $25.6 Billion a Year?

Without greater pipeline capacity, Canada loses an estimated (2025) $25.6 billion by selling our oil and gas to the U.S. at a steep discount. That money could be used in our communities — funding national defence, hiring nurses, supporting seniors, building schools, and improving infrastructure. Here’s what we’re giving up by underselling these natural resources. 

342,000 Nurses

The average annual salary for a registered nurse in Canada is about $74,958. These funds could address staffing shortages and improve patient care nationwide.
Source

39,000 New Housing Units

At an estimated $472,000 per unit (excluding land costs, based on Toronto averages), $25.6 billion could fund nearly 94,000 affordable housing units.
Source

About the Frontier Centre for Public Policy

The Frontier Centre for Public Policy is an independent Canadian think-tank that researches and analyzes public policy issues, including energy, economics and governance.

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Automotive

Hyundai moves SUV production to U.S.

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MXM logo MxM News

Quick Hit:

Hyundai is responding swiftly to 47th President Donald Trump’s newly implemented auto tariffs by shifting key vehicle production from Mexico to the U.S. The automaker, heavily reliant on the American market, has formed a specialized task force and committed billions to American manufacturing, highlighting how Trump’s America First economic policies are already impacting global business decisions.

Key Details:

  • Hyundai has created a tariffs task force and is relocating Tucson SUV production from Mexico to Alabama.

  • Despite a 25% tariff on car imports that began April 3, Hyundai reported a 2% gain in Q1 operating profit and maintained earnings guidance.

  • Hyundai and Kia derive one-third of their global sales from the U.S., where two-thirds of their vehicles are imported.

Diving Deeper:

In a direct response to President Trump’s decisive new tariffs on imported automobiles, Hyundai announced Thursday it has mobilized a specialized task force to mitigate the financial impact of the new trade policy and confirmed production shifts of one of its top-selling models to the United States. The move underscores the gravity of the new 25% import tax and the economic leverage wielded by a White House that is now unambiguously prioritizing American industry.

Starting with its popular Tucson SUV, Hyundai is transitioning some manufacturing from Mexico to its Alabama facility. Additional consideration is being given to relocating production away from Seoul for other U.S.-bound vehicles, signaling that the company is bracing for the long-term implications of Trump’s tariffs.

This move comes as the 25% import tax on vehicles went into effect April 3, with a matching tariff on auto parts scheduled to hit May 3. Hyundai, which generates a full third of its global revenue from American consumers, knows it can’t afford to delay action. Notably, U.S. retail sales for Hyundai jumped 11% last quarter, as car buyers rushed to purchase vehicles before prices inevitably climb due to the tariff.

Despite the trade policy, Hyundai reported a 2% uptick in first-quarter operating profit and reaffirmed its earnings projections, indicating confidence in its ability to adapt. Yet the company isn’t taking chances. Ahead of the tariffs, Hyundai stockpiled over three months of inventory in U.S. markets, hoping to blunt the initial shock of the increased import costs.

In a significant show of good faith and commitment to U.S. manufacturing, Hyundai last month pledged a massive $21 billion investment into its new Georgia plant. That announcement was made during a visit to the White House, just days before President Trump unveiled the auto tariff policy — a strategic alignment with a pro-growth, pro-America agenda.

Still, the challenges are substantial. The global auto industry depends on complex, multi-country supply chains, and analysts warn that tariffs will force production costs higher. Hyundai is holding the line on pricing for now, promising to keep current model prices stable through June 2. After that, however, price adjustments are on the table, potentially passing the burden to consumers.

South Korea, which remains one of the largest exporters of automobiles to the U.S., is not standing idle. A South Korean delegation is scheduled to meet with U.S. trade officials in Washington Thursday, marking the start of negotiations that could redefine the two nations’ trade dynamics.

President Trump’s actions represent a sharp pivot from the era of global corporatism that defined trade under the Obama-Biden administration. Hyundai’s swift response proves that when the U.S. government puts its market power to work, foreign companies will move mountains — or at least entire assembly lines — to stay in the game.

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