Showing posts with label Chuck Gray. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chuck Gray. Show all posts

Friday, April 24, 2026

The 2026 Election, 9th Edition. The Sic Semper Tyrannus edition.*

Confederate prisoners at Five Forks.

April 23, 2026

Republicans are basically freaking out after Virginia's voters sent redistricting to the legislature, guaranteeing Democratic gains in the state's House of Representative representation.  Donald Trump declared that the vote was stolen, which is utter nonsense, but which was predictable.  

He will claim the same about November's election as well, which is going to go very badly for the Republicans, and he will pull out no stops to try to steal that election.

That scary predication aside, the fall's election is getting pretty predictable right now . Republican's have committed political suicide by reelecting a demented not too sharp octogenarian real estate developer to the office of Presidency, one he is not actually legally qualified to hold.

They deserve no pity, even if the country does.

One group of people who are tiresomely not worth of pity are the far right MAGA crew that likes to predict a civil war, as if they're going to storm out of their suburban homes and fight somebody.  That's complete baloney. This is not going to result in a war of any kind.  It might end in violence however as MAGA has already tried to subvert the last election and probably will try to do so again.

On this, there's been a substantial increase in firearms ownership by liberals, a trend that hasn't received much notice.  It falls into two categories, one being political liberals who are just exercising their Second Amendment Rights. One columnist the other day noted that where there are large groups of right wing armed figures the police almost never act badly during demonstrations and is urging that left wing people do the same.  It makes sense, frankly.  This is a tactic that was taken by black activist groups during the 1960s and 1970s.  Liberals, in my view, should do this in part because it makes sense but also in part due to the fact that right wing Second Amendment groups have  rolled over like a pet dog for Trump.  Indeed, in the last issue of The American Rifleman some NRA member wrote a letter to the editor arguing, well, gosh, if there's a protest, best just to stay away, you know, . . . something completely contrary to the positions of the organization in the past.  

The other group are people who probably have real reason to seek self protection and tend to be in the political such as tranvestites and homosexuals.  That frankly makes real sense to me.  The late Charlie Kirk like to claim that tranvestites were inordinately responsible for mass shootings, which is not true, but that sort of rhetoric really does give a good reason for them to arm themselves.

The redistricting came about due to Trump insisting that it be done in Texas and Gov. Abbot agreeing to do it.  The fact that other states could do the same thing apparently never occurred to the dimwits running the GOP, or at least to the chief dimwit and his Texas minions.  Now the Democrats have done it twice and have gained ground in the effort, although a similar effort in Florida could change that. 

Or not.  Trump has lost such a following amongst Hispanics that the Texas redistricting may actually have the same effect, on a less dramatic scale, in that state.

Indeed, Texas is interesting in this regard as Republicans are howling about how a slim majority of voters can "deprive" the remainder of representation, which is an intellectually weak argument.  Nobody was deprived of representation, even though gerrymandering overall is bad.  Anyhow, it was the voters of Virginia who passed the redistricting plan, albeit only by a slim majority.  In Texas it was done by legislative fiat, even though Democrats, not Republicans, are the majority party in terms of registration in Texas.  Texas's districting outright suppresses Democratic votes, something that will come back to haunt the party in Texas.

At any rate, the GOP's actions are truly an example of the Forrest Gump observation, "stupid is as stupid does".  So much so that a person is really entitled to wonder at this point how dim those in charge right now really are.

Closer to home, where the GOP remains solidly in charge but there seems to be a real chance that the Freedom Caucus is going to really suffer in the fall, the following dates need to be kept in mind.

Party Changes

The state of Wyoming passed legislation affecting when a registered voter is allowed to change their party affiliation.

  • You MUST appear in person in the Elections office on or before May 13, 2026 to declare or change your party affiliation.    
  • NO party changes at the polls on Primary Election Day.
  • Qualified voters who are not yet registered will still be able to register and choose their party on the day of the Primary Election.

Absentee Voting

The timeframe for voting absentee has shortened from 45 days to 28 days.

  • Absentee ballot request may be made by phone, mail, email, online or in person.
  • Your ID is required to vote in person or to pick up a ballot.

Absentee voting for the Primary Election:     July 21 - August 17, 2026
Absentee voting for the   General Election:     October 6 - November 2, 2026

Party Affiliation for Primary Election

  • Registered Voter party affiliation change deadline for the Primary Election is May 13, 2026
  • New voter registrations may declare a party affiliation when registering after this deadline.

Candidate Filing Dates

  • State, County and City offices filing runs May 14, 2026 through May 29, 2026
  • College and School Boards, Fire Districts and Soil Conservation Districts filing runs August 5, 2026 through August 24, 2026

Absentee Voting

  • July 21, 2026 through August 17, 2026 for the Primary
  • October 6, 2026 through November 2, 2026 for the General

Election Days

  • Primary Election Day is Tuesday, August 18, 2026 
  • General Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Wyoming's Voter ID Law

Effective July 1, 2021, Wyoming voters will be required to show an acceptable form of identification when voting in person. There are many ID options for you to use to prove your identity.  Visit the Wyoming Secretary of State's Office website for more information.

A couple of observations.

One is that you used to be able to change party affiliation at the polls, but the state's GOP got that changed out of fear that all five of the state's remaining Democrats would change party at the poll and vote for Battling Bob LaFollette.

It's a stupid fear.  Any Democrats who were going to do that did it years ago.  The law actually just locks people into their current party, but the propaganda value of this lives on as the real Democrats, the Dixiecrats, like to continually complain that the GOP is backed with RINOs. It is, they are the RINOs.

Another observation is that you have to show "an acceptable" form of identification, so if you are going to vote, bring it.  The Secretary of State's office provides the following as "acceptable:

  • WY Driver's License or ID Card
  • Tribal ID Card
  • Valid US Passport
  • US Military Card
  • DL or ID Card from Another State
  • University of Wyoming Student ID
  • Wyoming Community College Student ID
  • Wyoming Public School Student ID
  • Valid Medicare Insurance Card*
  • Valid Medicaid Insurance Card*
  • Valid Wyoming Concealed Firearm Permit

Mostly because this was the pet project of California Carpetbagger Chuck Gray, I'm going to bring my driver's license, my military ID, and my concealed firearm's permit.  I'm also going to ask everyone manning the polls to see their ID's.  If I have to prove I'm an American citizen, well they should have to do so as well.

The other thing is that the candidate registration date is also coming right up.  It actually runs through May 29, but this year, I'd get that done by May 13 if I was going to run, which I'm not going to (probably).

cont:

And now there's a new candidate for the Senate, Sam Mead from the well known Mead family.  That makes the candidates, on the GOP side (no Democrats have announced):

Harriet Hageman 

Jimmy Skovgard

Samuel Mead

Mead is probably a pretty serious contender.  His website, which is probably not the best way to judge things, shows him to be the best serious candidate to announce, if we disregard Skovgard, who isn't mounting much of a campaign so far.

The first flyer for Steve Freiss, running for House today, arrived in which he tries to maintain he's like Reagan and Trump, which is patently absurd in that Trump and Reagan are nothing like each other.

April 24, 2026

The State Republican Convention opened in Douglas and already has the appearance of the 7th Cavalry attempting to form a final defensive line at Little Big Horn.

Wyomingites are showing increasing signs that they're sick to death of the Freedom  Caucus, but the county delegations still heavily reflect that.  So, they're thinking of just violating the law and even pulling out of primaries.

The dipshittery is already in evidence, as shown by this quote:

What we as a party are moving towards is what people have been asking for decades.

Wyoming Republican Party Chair Bryan Miller.

Miller spent his career in the Air Force sucking off the government tit and then came to Wyoming on the far right "I worked for the government but I hate the government so much I still collect government retirement and am now sucking on the other government tit" platform. Given that, like most of the WFC, what he imagines what people have wanted "for decades" is based on talking to a small group of like minded, small minded, feverish minds, many of whom spent their decades somewhere else.

Basically, the Freedom Caucus is worried that the voters are going to kick it in the ass in the primary and are trying to find a way that county WFC controlled bodies can declare who the candidates in the fall will be.

That's not going to fly.  Anyone can still register as a Republican and run as one if they declare themselves to be one.  The GOP can't change that.  What it can do, however, is break into open civil war before a general election and destroy itself.

Long-term, by attacking the primaries, it might just lead to a non partisan open primary, which would be a fantastic development.

Another proposal is that Republican candidates take a loyalty oath the GOP platform.  The state platform has a barely disguised "grab the public lands" plank in it that Wyomingites hate, but the Confederates love.  Showing more their loyalty to the Lost Cause, it also includes a plank that requires the state to ignore the decisions of Courts that don't go their way, something that actually is flat out illegal and which makes them into a traitorous body seeking the overthrow of the American government, although they seemingly can't grasp that.

The deluded WFC feels that they can secure their failing movement, basically, by expelling everyone else, which at the end of the day would result in a competing Republican body, which would be an outright good development, particularly now. The existing GOP is heading for a cliff this Fall and there's a strong chance it'll start to actually dissolve next year.

cont:

Footnotes:

"Thus always to tyrants", the state motto of Virginia.

Related threads:

Pollice Verso. The 2026 Political Negative Endorsement. The Don't Vote For List.

Last edition:

The 2026 Election, 7th Edition, Do not stand with those who promote the sins that cry out to Heaven.


Republicans. You have reached July 20, 1944. You can either act with the insurgents and save your party (maybe) or go down in the bunker and destroy it for a generation, or more.

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

The 2026 Election, 7th Edition, Do not stand with those who promote the sins that cry out to Heaven.

 


April 14, 2026.

The Donald Trump Effect, voters running from candidates endorsed by the deranged octogenarian whose administration is protecting the rapist of teenagers, starting wars, and causing rising inflation, is having a noticeable nationwide, and even international, effect.  Voters in special elections all over the US are dumping MAGA candidates and electing Democrats.  It's an absolute certainty at this point that, unless something dramatic happens, that the Republicans are going to lose badly at the midterms and retake the House.  And now it appears they're likely to take the Senate. The Cook Political Report shifted four Senate races this past week to favor Democratic and pundits are now openly saying the Democrats will take the upper house.

Of course, Democrats have a way of shooting themselves in the foot.  Nonetheless the momentum is clear.  Trump has lost independents, who he needs in most places for the GOP to remain in office, and he's lost Hispanics.   This past week his actions were such that if he has not lost non Hispanic Catholics, its only because those voters value Trump more than the Faith or are engaging in some really self delusional thinking, keeping in mind that you never actually have to vote Democratic and that in the primaries there is usually a Republican willing to run who isn't a slave to Trump.

California Republicans refused to endorse a Governor's candidate in a convention that was just held and snubbed Trump's endorsement of one. They see the handwriting on the wall.

But still you have this.

An entire group of Wyoming candidates acts like this adoring girl.  Shoot, they'd like to be squeezed by Trump too.

An article on the topic:

Donald Trump and Wyoming’s crowded House race

This all follows, of course, this:

The 25th Amendment Watch List. A Fourteenth and Special edition. Attacking the Catholic Church.

If Wyomingites are going to wake up, and that's unlikely, there's be a point, if we are not already at it, where voting for the GOP candidates who associate with themselves with Trump would be a no go.  And some of those candidates would already be no gos.  

Chuck Gray, who barely won the Secretary of State's office and only did so by lies and screeds about an imaginary pack of left wingers always oppressing him is running on being perpetually pissed off at at the left and being in deep love with Donald Trump.  Reid Rasner promises to be Trump's number one fan.  Megan Degenfelder  has "Endorsed by Donald Trump" on her campaign signs.

All three are Catholic.  If they can still stomach Trump at this point, there's literally no value they hold that they actually hold.  No Democrat is going to win, so lashing themselves to Trump is either cynical or self delusional.  It's inexcusable.

Degenfelder's signs out to read "Endorsed by Blasphemer Donald Trump".  Gray and Rasner, who are both young enough, ought to joint the Marines and put their bodies where their mouths are.

Another far right Catholic figure in Wyoming is Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, who is now running for Secretary of State as Rachel Williams. She's never said anything about Trump of which I'm aware, but as a Freedom Caucuser she ought to fell uncomfortable with the company she's been keeping.

It'll also be interesting to see how columnists like Jonathan Lange, a Lutheran minister, approaches what is now too obvious to ignore. . . Trump doesn't care about religion at all and feels free to outright mock it.  Granted, he's not Catholic, but for sincere Christians what was depicted is blasphemous irrespective of which branch of Christianity a person might be in.

And then we have this:

There's no excuse for what Gray did.

Even some Republican states are opposing giving voter data to the Federal Government, but Chuck was the first to comply.

We'll see how this plays out, but if he loses, given his position, he ought to get the maximum penalty.

Anyhow, we're in the thick of the election now, but every day, Donald Trump gets weirder and weirder.  He's insane.  Standing by the insanity is not excusable.

April 15, 2026

Three Rematches Set, So Far, In Wyoming's House Races

Here's an absolute shock:


This may be showing that the bloom is actually off the Trump rose.  Generally, Wyoming Republicans have been complete Trump toady's.

The five are Kevin Christensen, who called the post blasphemous, Matt McGinnis, and John Romero-Martinez.  Romero-Martinez, who is a devout Catholic, added that it was not only blasphemous, but sacrilegious.

Kinney the Democratic candidate and Johnson the Libertarian also criticized the act, but less forcefully.

Johnson made the excellent point that this is one of a string of outrages.

Predictably, according to the Cowboy State Daily:
Both Rasner and Gray are Catholic and if that's all they could muster up people who sit next to them at Mass on Sunday ought to ask them what's the matter with them.

Elsewhere this was an act that finally had a reaction.  Like Johnson noted, you have to wonder where these people were all along.  Trump fan Riley Gaines noted:
Seriously I cannot understand why he’d post this. Is he looking for a response? Does he actually think this?
Gaines must have been asleep for the past decade to actually post a query on Trump's character.  He's self centered and narcissistic, and she seems surprised.

This trend locally and nationally shows that the wheels are really coming off of MAGA.  A Turning Point USA convention that was just held was grossly under attended.  Locally Republicans for the first time feel able to criticize Trump.  There's a significant movement in the state to boot out the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.  A bipartisan movement in the House caused the removal of a Democratic and a Republican sex abuser, bypassing the pathetic Mike Johnson.  It appears the Democrats are going to take the Senate and the House.

For the Republicans, the good thing is that they are finally out of the cave to a degree.  The GOP has been wrecked by Donald Trump, but this may actually give them a chance to start to rebuild it, whereas waiting until after the November election will be utterly too late.

cont:
I recognize that a lot of young voters don't love the policy we have in the Middle East. Okay. I understand that. Don't get disengaged because you disagree with the administration on one topic. Get more involved. That's how we ultimately take the country back.
J. D. Vance.

WTF?

Vance did oppose the war. We know that as he leaked like crazy.  But getting involved would mean booting the GOP into the dustbin, maybe forever.

Vance has remade himself repeatedly.  A person now stating that this is how "we take the country back" is raising interesting questions about where he himself is headed.  He's including himself in the "we" who are young and who oppose the policy in the Middle East.

Is Vance having a Humber Humphrey moment?

It'll be interesting to see if this is Vance's first cautious step into independence.  He's not dumb, and he obviously sees and even acknowledges that the GOP is going into the dumpster.  That statement would seem to be a declaration of independence from Trump.

April 17, 2026

Governor Gordon confirmed that he is not running for a third term.

While we're unlikely to mention this race again, Sheriff Harlan is running for reelection in Natrona County, Wyoming.

Rep. Harshman of Natrona County is running for Superintendent of Public Instruction.  He'd make a very good choice for this position, but it puts his house district in play.   A far right wing candidate was challenging Harshman as well as a Democrat.

Albert Sommers is running for the seat he lost in the last election, House District 20.  It fell to a WFC member.

April 19, 2026

Yesterday was the day of dueling mail flyers for the U.S. House race.  Identically sized campaign flyers for Chuck Gray and Reid Rasner arrived in the mailboxes of Natrona County residents.  Apparently the Gray ones went statewide.

They were really laughable.  Gray's depicts the diminutive Californian standing next to Donald Trump, looking slightly above him. Trump is something like 6'2" tall where as Gray is absolutely tiny.  I'm not a very large person, 5'6", and I look down on Gray, which says something.  Gray has also taken up wearing western wool shirts in an effort to make him look like a Wyomingite, but which really point out that he isn't.  His campaign is based on far right MAGA platforms and sticking next to, and apparently slightly above, the demented belle of the far right ball, Trump.

Rasner, who has no chance, attacked Gray in his, and frankly some of his attacks are landing.  He  may carve votes away from Gray.

Locally, small business owner Neil Jeske announced he was running to take on J. R. Riggins in House District 59, which includes part of Casper and all of Mills.

Riggins is probably in trouble as he only won in that race in the first place as he was the only one running.  He missed the first legislature he was supposed to serve in entirely due to heart problems.  I saw him at a political event before the last legislative session and he really appeared to be out to sea.  

Unfortunately, Jeske is the candidate that Natrona County doesn't need.  He already is on the reduce spending and reduce regulation platform.  Wyoming already has so little regulation that the state government would have to go out and regulate something in order for their to be regulation to cut, and the legislature is so cheap that Wyoming has very large financial reserves that just sit there as the state won't distribute funds to local governments, their only real way of getting them.  We probably need more regulation and less financial restraint.

Jeske is apparently a truck driver.  I don't know what Riggins is.  At any rate, truck driving in 2026 is sort of like being a teamster in 1916.  It's a real job. . . and one that's about to disappear.  Hopefully somebody else will step up and run.

April 21, 2026

Based upon his campaign propaganda, Jeske, mentioned above, is a worst pick than Riggins.  He's another out of state implant and of far right wing views.  He's going on the don't vote for list.

Riggins, on the other hand, based on his public lands voting, appears to have risen to his position.

April 22, 2026

In the move The Hunt For Red October the pursuing Soviet submarine commander orders the safeties taken off of his torpedoes so he can hit the Red October from close range.  The U.S. submarine USS Dallas deflects the aim of the fired torpedo which circles back and hits the Soviet sub.  As it happens, a Soviet submariner tells his captain, "You arrogant ass, you killed us".


That's exactly what Donald Trump is doing to the GOP.

More particularly, that's what he did by demanding that Texas redistrict out of cycle.

Worried that thing were turning against him, Trump demanded that compliant Texas Governor Abbot cause the GOP controlled Texas legislature to convene and specially redistrict.  Abbot, to his everlasting shame, complied.

Trump is apparently so dim that he didn't realize the same strategy could be used against him. First California did it, and now Virginia did.

Even accepting the conventional math, there are now more Democratic districts that added to the map for the fall than there are Republican ones, although only barely so.  Still, the results are remarkable.  In Virginia, where it was done by the voters, it will mean that Virginia returns to being an overwhelmingly Democratic state in terms of is House or Representatives delegates.  Trump actually completely flipped an entire state from Republican to Democrat prior to the election itself.

The GOP, in order to keep this game up, must now have Florida do the same thing.  It's not assured, however, as Florida is starting to go to the Democratic Party a bit all on its own.  Redistricting may simply assure that occurs.

And ironically, the Texas result may have added Democratic seats in Texas.  Texas actually has more Democratic voters than Republicans.  In recent years its only been a Republican state for the same reason the rest of the South is.  But Texas also has heavily Hispanic districts. Trump took them in 2024, but now that's changing.

And this from a guy who claimed to master "the art of the deal".

A note here about one state that tried to redistrict and couldn't, that being Utah.

Most Western states have a much better system than the rest of the country and require fair and balanced redistricting.  Much of the rest of the country which had Democratic administrations was moving that way. Republicans, who were rapidly becoming a minority party in the 1990s, resisted it.  That's why in Californian and Virginia, redistricting is being democratically.  It's also the reason why in one Midwestern state that's currently done this way the legislature refused to consider redistricting even though its Republican controlled. They knew the voters, in that instance, would take it out on them.

In Utah, a court turned the effort around.  It was only one seat, but that shows something interesting.  Utah has a Democratic Congressional seat.  Utah's the same state that sent Mike Lee to Congress for some reason, but not every district fits that mold.

And in a state like Wyoming, which of course only has one Congressional seat, this couldn't happen as it would be against the state constitution.

cont:

Wyoming Public Radio reports that for the House race, Reid Rasner, who will go down in August like a kerosene doused biplane flying through a blast furnace, has raised $1.2 M in this campaign, the majority of which is a loan from himself.  Chuck Gray has done the same and nearly approached $1M.

Committing that amount of money to a job that pays a fraction of that per year should flat out be illegal.  We need to address that in our "don't vote for" list, which has been switched over to being a page on the website, rather than a thread.

Related threads:


Last edition:

The 2026 Election, 6th Edition, Campaigning before defeats.

Wyoming’s ‘radical left-wing media’

In my view, Chuck Gray broke the law by turning over Wyoming's voter information to the Federal Government.  

Not only did he do that, he did it so quickly that the US was the first state in the union to do it.

He should be ashamed.

Frankly, he should be ashamed, convicted, and removed from office.

Wyoming’s ‘radical left-wing media’

 
But of course, what he does is issue his usual go to screeds.  It's the "radical left".


To hear Chuck say, literally everything wrong, and everything that opposes him, is due to the radical left.

It's really getting tiresome.  One Trick Pony Chuck probably screams at his toaster if his toast is burnt that the toaster is part of the radical left.

Being a screamer got him into his current office. . . barely.  Since then, he's kept it up.  His act was wearing pretty thing before he was elected.  My guess is that it's worn too thin now and his having violated the law here may come back to haunt him.

Tuesday, April 21, 2026

Subsidiarity Economics 2026. The Times more or less locally, Part 3. The Wharton Way.

 

 "The Wharton Way"

Our strategic plan guiding us towards greater influence, innovation, and engagement for the advancement of business, education, and society at large.

Wharton School of Business website.

Donald J. Trump, who fancies himself a Wile E. Coyote level genius, is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business.

It certainly doesn't show, or Wharton isn't all it has been cracked up to be.

Having gotten the United States into an illegal war as Bibi Netanyahu talked him into it, Donny appears to have been taken off guard that Iran could and would close the Straits of Hormuz, hit tankers, and hit oil and gas facilities throughout the Middle East.

Why wouldn't they?

Perhaps if Melania lets Barron go see his father over Spring Break, assuming they're not perusing travel brochures entitled "where we can go to live after Don dies where people won't know we're Trumps", and assuming that Barron isn't doing the right thing and enlisting in the United States Marine Corps, they can break out some hex and counter games and play Naval based Superpower v. Land based regional power" and see how that works out.

Anyhow, Donny Trump (did we mention that he fancies himself a Wile E. Coyote level genius?) has lifted sanctions on already loaded oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, which means that Iran now has a source of cash it didn't before the war started.

So, we didn't wipe out their nuclear capabilities in the Twelve Day War, their government hasn't fallen in this one, people have not risen up to toss out the Iranian government, the Straits of Hormuz are closed, we didn't stockpile oil before the war, the price of oil has skyrocketed, and now the Iranians can legally transport some oil

Assuming that Trump isn't secretly trying to destroy the American economy and benefit Iran (and Russia), it's hard to see the smarts in any of that.

March 23, 2026

Even the best-case scenario for energy markets is disastrous

Whatever happens, high prices will outlive the Iran war 

March 24, 2026

Petroleum is back up over $100/bbl, basically because King Donny is a liar.

March 26, 2026

And the war inflation hits packages:

U.S. Postal Service Announces Transportation-Related, Time-Limited Price Change

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service filed notice today with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) regarding a time-limited price change to better align its costs of transportation with the market. This temporary price adjustment will provide needed flexibility for the Postal Service by helping to ensure that the actual costs of doing business are covered, as required by Congress.

While this price increase is a time-limited adjustment, it will provide a necessary bridge to a permanent mechanism to reflect market conditions in prices for competitive products that can support the Postal Service’s ability to achieve the universal service obligation in a more financially sustainable manner going forward.

The planned price change, which was approved by the Governors of the Postal Service on March 24, is an 8 percent increase that would affect base postage prices on the following retail and commercial domestic competitive products: Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage, and Parcel Select. No other products or services would be affected, including First-Class Stamps. Pending favorable review by the PRC, the price change would go into effect at midnight Central Time on April 26 and would remain in place until midnight Central Time on Jan. 17, 2027. At that time, the Postal Service can determine if a different long-term approach is needed.

Transportation costs have been increasing, and our competitors have reacted with a number of surcharges. We have steadfastly avoided surcharges and this charge is less than one-third of what our competitors charge for fuel alone, so even with this change, the Postal Service continues to offer great value in shipping with some of the lowest rates in the industrialized world.

The time-limited price change is consistent with industry practices and will support the Postal Service’s ability to continue achieving its public service mission — providing a nationwide, integrated network for the delivery of mail and packages at least six days a week — in a cost-effective and financially sustainable manner over the long term, just as the U.S. Congress has intended.

The PRC will review the proposed price change before it is scheduled to take effect on April 26. Complete USPS price filings, with prices for all products, can be found on the PRC website’s Daily Listings section at prc.arkcase.com/portal/filings. Price tables are also available on the Postal Explorer website at pe.usps.com/PriceChange/Index.

# # #

March 27, 2026

More than 90% of new renewable power projects worldwide in 2024 were cheaper than fossil-fuel alternatives, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.

Guess they aren't as woke as Chuck and demented Don would claim.

And this two years ago before the tin pot dictator decided to destroy the world's oil importation system.

March 30, 2026

West Texas is at $100/bbl this morning. Brent is at $115/bbl.

With the Houthis now in the war, there's a fairly good chance the Red Sea will be effectively closed, massively widening the war, and propelling the world into a King Donny causes severe recession.

March 31, 2026

Brent is at $114.88.  West Texas at $104.

The price of almost everything is rising.

This is your economy at war.  An undeclared war by a demented octogenarian.

April 6, 2026

Trump's Total War Budget

“More bombs, less of everything else” is a tough campaign platform.

West Texas is $110/bbl this morning.

April 7, 2026

All roads lead to higher prices and slower growth.

IMF’s Kristalina Georgieva.

April 14, 2026

We had in Wyoming record distributions of Meals on Wheels…So I’m worried.  I’ll admit it.

Cynthia Lummis.

April 15, 2026

Headlines in the CST:

Forbes: Trump’s wealth soars 60% since return

Trump administration will refund importers

Treasury chief confident on low core inflation

That last thing comes from Bessant so basically it's propaganda, as everything he says is.

April 18, 2026


The Rural Blog: Inflation surged in March due to Iran war and tariffs: War-related price pressures worsened inflation in March, which the Federal Reserve was already struggling to regulate, reports Colby Smith f...

High oil prices, explained by an expert

"It’s hard to know what level would make Americans start to really restrict their consumption."

April 19, 2026

Oh oh. . .

April 21, 2026

Presidential Determination Pursuant to

Section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as Amended, on Natural Gas Transmission, Processing, Storage, and Liquefied Natural Gas Capacity

Presidential Memoranda

April 20, 2026

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF ENERGY

SUBJECT:       Presidential Determination Pursuant to Section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as Amended, on Natural Gas Transmission, Processing, Storage, and Liquefied Natural Gas Capacity

On January 20, 2025, I issued Executive Order 14156 (Declaring a National Energy Emergency), under the National Emergencies Act.  That order found that hostile foreign actors have weaponized America’s reliance on foreign energy and used it to cause dramatic swings in international commodity markets, leaving the United States and its allies dangerously exposed.  It emphasized that America must develop its capacity to supply reliable, diversified, and affordable energy to international allies and partners to compete with hostile foreign powers, strengthen relations with allies and partners, and support international peace and security.

Consistent with that declaration, I find that ensuring sufficient natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacity is critical to sustaining United States defense operations and ensuring allied energy security.  Inadequate pipelines, processing, storage, or natural gas and LNG export capacity would leave the United States and its partners dangerously exposed in times of crisis.

Therefore, by the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (the “Act”) (50 U.S.C. 4533), I hereby determine, pursuant to section 303(a)(5) of the Act, that:

(1)  natural gas and LNG capacity, including gathering and transmission pipelines, compression, processing plants, underground storage, LNG liquefaction, storage and marine load, export facilities, and critical distribution infrastructure, are industrial resources, materials, or critical technology items essential to the national defense;

(2)  without Presidential action under section 303 of the Act, United States industry cannot reasonably be expected to provide these capabilities for the needed industrial resource, material, or critical technology item in a timely manner due to financing constraints, long-lead equipment and construction schedules, permitting delays, and infrastructure bottlenecks; and

(3)  purchases, purchase commitments, financial support for the development of production capabilities, or other action pursuant to section 303 of the Act are the most cost-effective, expedient, and practical alternative methods for meeting this need.

I have declared a national emergency under Executive Order 14156, and I further determine that action to expand domestic natural gas transmission, processing, storage, and LNG capacity is necessary to avert an industrial resource or critical technology item shortfall that would severely impair national defense capability.  Therefore, pursuant to section 303(a)(7) of the Act, I waive the requirements of section 303(a)(1)-(a)(6) of the Act for the purpose of expanding such capability.

You are authorized and directed to implement this determination, including making necessary purchases, commitments, and financial instruments to enable these projects, and to publish this determination in the Federal Register.

DONALD J. TRUMP

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