Last week “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth insulted Americans by claiming that a 50 percent increase in the US military budget – from an incomprehensible one trillion dollars to an impossible one and a half trillion – was a “fiscally responsible investment.”

“Thanks to President Trump’s $1.5 trillion defense budget, this War Department has moved from bureaucracy to business,” he said last Thursday.

In a way he was right, though. The huge increase is much more about “business” than what is needed to protect the United States from potential invasion.

But it isn’t the kind of “business” that most supporters of free markets would applaud. On the contrary, this is the business of transferring massive amounts of wealth from the struggling middle and working classes to the well-connected Beltway elite based on lies and scare tactics.

The US mainstream media is crucial in manufacturing the fairy tale that if we don’t mortgage our children’s and grandchildren’s future to finance this obscene military budget, we will be attacked or invaded by some evil foreign power.

It’s not difficult to do a little research and see why the mainstream – and even some “independent” – media outlets push these scare tactics: they are owned or funded by giant corporations with close ties to military contractors.

This unhealthy relationship is known as “corporatism” – the intermingling of pseudo-private companies with the government. It is the precursor to actual fascism, where the government takes a stake in such companies.
We’re getting there faster than most Americans understand.

The whole scam is not about protecting the citizens of the United States. It’s about protecting the US empire overseas, which actually harms the citizens of the United States.

Yes, they rob us to fund their empire and lie to us that it keeps us safe. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our constant military interventions on virtually every continent of the globe only build resentment among the rest of the world’s population. Anyone who thinks people overseas welcome US bombs has been watching too much Fox News or reading too much Washington Post.

And what do we get for the most expensive military on earth – larger than the combined militaries of the next dozen or so countries? Not much. Iran’s military budget is less than one percent of ours, yet Iran destroyed or disabled every US military base in the Middle East.

It turns out that Iran has destroyed dozens of multi-million dollar US spy drones – and several near-billion dollar spy radar stations – with their own drones costing mere thousands of dollars each.

The US surprise attack was supposed to make Iran cower and beg for mercy, but it did the opposite: it showed that despite the trillions extorted from Americans for the most expensive military on earth, the US military can no longer win the wars that US presidents illegally force them into fighting.

The US military continues to fight World War II – with massively expensive aircraft carriers that do not dare get close to combat – while warfighting has evolved into something entirely different.

The only good thing about the Iran war is that it demonstrates how much the special interests have lied to us about the need to continue our suicidal military spending increases.

It was never about protecting the United States. It is about protecting the ever-growing bank accounts of the special interests at the expense of the rest of us. It needs to stop. Now.

One of the industries hardest hit by the spike in fuel prices caused by the Iran War is airlines. Jet fuel prices have doubled since the start of the war. Airlines have reacted to the fuel price increase by raising fares and baggage fees, as well as by cutting routes.

Raising prices is not a good option for “budget” airlines since their main appeal to consumers is their low prices. Increasing prices could cause these carriers to lose business.

The financial strain from the increased fuel costs led discount airline Spirit to ask the Trump administration for a bailout. President Trump said a bailout would be conditioned on Spirit giving the government an ownership stake in the company. Spirit was unable to reach a deal with the government, so Spirit went out of business on Saturday. However, several other budget airlines are seeking a government bailout.

Spirit has been struggling for years. In 2022, the airline sought to get on better financial footing by merging with fellow discount airline JetBlue. The merger may have allowed for more effective competition with the dominant carriers. However, the Justice Department successfully opposed the merger in court on the grounds it would lead to more concentration in the discount airlines market. This is one of many examples of how an aggressive approach to antitrust enforcement can harm businesses and consumers.

Spirit is not the first business President Trump has considered having the government “invest” in. For example, in exchange for government approval of Nippon Steel’s acquisition of US Steel, the government was given a “golden share” allowing the government to overrule decisions made by the company that the government determines are against US “national security.” Among the other companies the government has obtained an ownership interest in are several minerals mining companies and computer chip manufacturer Intel. If discount airlines receive bailouts in exchange for granting government ownership stakes in their businesses, other companies impacted by the spike in fuel prices may line up for the same deal.

Having government own part of what is a nominally private company interferes with the efficient allocation of capital. It also means business decisions will be made to please government officials and bureaucrats instead of to meet the needs and wants of consumers. Government officials will also act based on what will boost returns in the government’s investments.

Government ownership of all or part of private businesses is the epitome of economic fascism. Yet, there have not been protests from the so-called “anti-fascist” progressives over President Trump arranging US government ownership stakes in private companies. This is probably because they are looking forward to a Democrat president expanding government’s investment in, and control of, private businesses.

There has been little criticism of President Trump’s acquisition of ownership interests in private companies from Republican politicians or conservative writers and activists. Many of them, though, would have opposed President Obama or President Biden tooth and nail if either had the US government take an ownership interest in private companies.

Contrary to what many seem to think, full or partial government ownership of private companies does not magically become less of a threat to liberty and prosperity when done by a Republican. Congress should pass a law forbidding any part of the federal government — including the Federal Reserve — from taking an ownership interest in any private business.

Last week, President Donald Trump commemorated income tax payments being due by having DoorDash deliver food from McDonald’s to the White House. The delivery was intended to highlight the first year of tax-free tips. Removing tax on tips was part of the 2025 Big Beautiful Bill (BBB).

As the sponsor of the first No Tax on Tips legislation introduced in Congress, I was obviously pleased to see this change in tax laws included in the BBB. The bill also included other good tax changes such as removing tax on overtime and extending the 2017 tax cuts. Unfortunately, the bill also increased federal spending and debt.

Supporters of the income tax implicitly endorse the idea that our rights are gifts from government and, thus, can be revoked by government at the will of our rulers. Adoption of the income tax signified the abandonment of the belief that individuals have inalienable rights granted them by the Creator.

Therefore, those who believe in natural rights must reject income taxation. It is also a violation of the people’s rights when the central bank reduces the value of the dollar, and thus the people’s purchasing power, via the hidden inflation tax.

The income tax system’s rejection of natural rights is exemplified by withholding that gives government first claim on an individual’s earnings. The government then may return, via what it calls a refund, some of what was taken. However, a normal refund is when a business returns a customer’s payment because the customer is dissatisfied with the good or service he received, not when a thief returns some of what the thief stole.

Withholding was implemented during World War Two as a “temporary” wartime measure. Yet, it is still with us decades later.

Milton Friedman, as a young economist, played a role in the US government’s development of withholding. Of course, Friedman went on to become a leading advocate for free markets. He also redeemed himself for his work on withholding by becoming a prominent advocate for ending the military draft.

The draft is the worst example of how the government has rejected the principles of the Declaration of Independence. The draft gives government power to force young men (and possibly young women) to join the military and kill or be killed in a war. Contrary to the beliefs of some progressives, support for the draft is not justified by allowing individuals to choose between serving in the military or performing some other form of mandated “service.”

While the US does not have a military draft, the infrastructure for the draft remains in place via Selective Service registration. A provision in this year ‘s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) allows Selective Service to automatically register all men between the ages of 18 and 25. This makes it easier than ever for government to reinstate a draft.

Income taxes, along with the military draft and other types of mandated “service,” are incompatible with a free society and should be opposed by all who value liberty and peace. As Ronald Reagan said in a statement that could be modified to apply to income taxes, the draft “rests on the assumption that your kids belong to the state…. That assumption isn’t a new one. The Nazis thought it was a great idea.”

President Trump was presented with a great opportunity on Saturday to take the off-ramp from his war on Iran. After threatening Iran that “a whole civilization will die tonight,” Trump managed to get a two week pause in the war with the intervention of the Pakistani government.

A window opened to end this illegal war. Vice President Vance traveled to Pakistan to negotiate with a high-level Iranian delegation and from press reporting progress was made on many issues.

Unfortunately, after a month and a half of war, where tens of billions of dollars have been spent, every US base in the region is either damaged or destroyed, and dozens of military aircraft have been lost, President Trump did not take the off-ramp. He hit the accelerator.

After 21 hours of negotiations, the talks blew up, reportedly because the US side again insisted that Iran turn over its enriched uranium, destroy its nuclear facilities, and never enrich uranium again. This may be the “maximalist” approach favored by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but there is no reason for the US to make such demands.

So the Pakistan meeting was a waste of time – and likely the whole ceasefire was a ploy to buy time for the US and Israeli side to re-group and re-load.

Immediately after the talks ended in failure, an increasingly volatile Trump increased his threats against Iran. Over the past weeks he has alternated between insisting that the Strait of Hormuz is unimportant to the United States and demanding that the Strait be opened immediately.

Then yesterday he announced – via his social media account – that the United States military would start blockading Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Any ship departing from an Iranian port would risk being boarded, inspected, and possibly seized.

Iran’s restricting traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has sent oil prices soaring, along with the price of fertilizer and other related products. Inflation is increasing in the US. Global markets are reeling. Trump further restricting traffic in and out of the Persian Gulf with his own blockade will only accelerate this process. It is like fighting a fire with gasoline.

And if the Houthis in Yemen close the Red Sea in response to Trump’s blockade of Iran’s blockade, we could even see a global economic depression.

There is a feeling that President Trump is flailing around while becoming increasingly volatile. He expected that the Europeans, the Japanese, and the South Koreans would join his efforts to force open the Strait, but instead they decided to make their own deals with Tehran and pay the transit fee. The rest of the world does not want war with Iran. Only the Trump Administration and Netanyahu want the war.

The petrodollar is taking a hit, as payments for Strait of Hormuz passage are paid in Chinese yuan. The dollar is being challenged as the global reserve currency as the US global empire itself is being challenged in real time.

This is time to look for and take that off-ramp. However, the US President seems to be moving in the opposite direction. Military equipment is being rapidly airlifted to the Middle East and another US carrier group is nearing the region as well. China has warned the US against interfering in its trade with Iran.

A major escalation is brewing and Congress still cannot find its voice.

Following President Trump’s address to the nation on Wednesday about the Iran War, stock markets suffered losses while oil prices rose. The decline in stocks and increase in oil prices reflected disappointment over President Trump’s failure to articulate a plan to end the Iran War and the related restraint of shipping through of the Strait of Hormuz.

The average gas price in America has risen to over four dollars per gallon since the US and Israel launched their war against Iran at the end of February. The increased cost of gas is raising prices at the pump and, by increasing shipping costs, resulting in higher prices at grocery stores and even on Amazon.

According to media reports, President Trump and his advisers dismissed the possibility that Iran would use its ability to limit or even cease oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz in order to drive up fuel prices. They dismissed the possibility even though disrupting oil shipments is the best way Iran can damage the US economy and make even America’s staunchest allies unwilling to take any action that could be seen as supporting the war. Fear of Iranian retribution may be why NATO countries rejected the president’s request that they send military support to the Strait of Hormuz to protect the free transport of oil.

President Trump’s contradictory statements regarding how close the US is to victory (and what victory will consist of) as well as whether he intends to establish a military presence at the Strait of Hormuz reflect the dilemma President Trump is facing when it comes to Iran. If the president sends troops to protect the Strait of Hormuz or sends troops into Iran, then he will lose more support from those who voted for him because he promised to be a peacemaker, not a warmonger.

Continuing to ignore the damage the increase in fuel costs is causing Americans will hurt Republicans in November’s midterm elections. This could result in President Trump facing a Democrat-controlled Congress in his final two years in office.

President Trump recently stated the federal government cannot afford to pay for daycare and other social programs because it has to spend so much money on the military and war. Of course, the Constitution does not authorize the federal government to run either a welfare state or a global empire.

The massive federal expenditure on militarism deprives the American people of the resources needed to create an effective private “safety net” for those in need. Yet, President Trump wants to increase the military budget to 1.5 trillion dollars — a 40 percent increase — even though the United States already spends more on “defense” than the combined defense budgets of the next nine biggest spending countries!

This spending will be paid for via the Federal Reserve’s inflation tax. This will further increase costs for Americans. The inflation tax hits middle and lower income Americans the hardest.

A saying among some antiwar libertarians and progresses, coined by Tom Woods, expresses the idea that whoever is elected president you end up with the militaristic foreign policy of the late Senator John McCain. President Trump’s commitment to continuing and expanding intervention in the Middle East and beyond, as well as to dramatically increasing spending to accomplish this task, suggests an exception to the rule: President Trump might be worse than John McCain.