Small Wins with Big Implications
Take the Ws when offered.
Playing small ball can be a dangerous long-term strategy. While true, that doesn’t at all rule out taking the wins when you can get them. Here is an example from Cato’s Colin Grabow:
To provide answers, the Cato Institute has built the Jones Act Waiver Tracker, an interactive, first-of-its-kind dashboard that draws directly on the voyage reports that waiver users must file with the Maritime Administration (MARAD).
. . .
What the Data Already Show
As of July 10, 2026 — 115 days into the waiver — the tracker shows:
162 voyages completed
135 unique vessels involved
38 voyages transiting the Panama Canal
16 distinct cargo categories moved
Nearly 40 million barrels shipped (39,955,137)
Scott Lincicome joins in the celebration of results:
When looking for reasons the many bad policies of the Trump administration is not having more apparent negative impact on the economy, it is important to remember that there have been numerous positive policies. Besides general deregulation, the administration has done one thing very specifically: suspended the Jones Act. Not just that, but this has been the longest waiver of that dreadfully bad law since 1950. The waiver started March 17 and is set to expire August 16. Dare I hope that gets extended? Perhaps. Dare I hope we move to fully extinguish this nonsense altogether at some point? Well, a boy can dream . . .
And no, Trump does not get full credit here since his reckless decision to make war on Iran caused the acute need for the waiver.
Trump happens to be on the correct side of many issues. This statement is not the half-assed, mealy-mouthed concession Trump supporters would like to label it. I would and have said the same of other bad administrations (that is to say all of them). Unfortunately, I would argue that we seem to be ratcheting down in each successive election among candidates from both parties in terms of the good principles/instincts to bad principles/instincts ratio. So this charge of happening to be right is getting stronger.
Trump’s position on CBDCs is another example. I fully expect a 180 on this from him and others) once he realizes the immense control over his enemies this power would entail. Only strong, powerful political opposition from key special-interests constituencies can hold politicians back from this threat. Where once adherence to good principles held sway, now only self interest (getting/keeping political support) can be counted on. Milton Friedman’s famous adage is more important today than ever.
Another note on Trump in light of his prime-time address to the nation this week on election corruption. That propaganda moment is a great reminder that no matter how many small wins Trump and his ilk deliver, and there are many, it is not worth the existential risk he and they pose to the republic. It is why I said in the hypothetical where your vote actually would determine the election in 2024, I advocated for Kamala Harris over Trump despite Trump scoring better in my degrees-of-losing matrix.
The “bombshell revelations” in the speech Thursday night were complete duds to any rational observer. Only the people suffering reverse TDS can possibly see it as anything else. This administration has lost all credibility on this among many issues. In fact there is no reason to take anything they say or promote at face value. Reagan’s borrowed phrase, Trust but Verify, must be amended for the Trump administration to now be Do Not Trust Until Verified.
Beyond this lack of credibility comes the utter corruption. As Matt Welch illustrates, this is the most corrupt presidency in history.
Americans have cycled in and out of corrupt eras: the blatant patronage of Tammany Hall, the lobbying Christmas trees of President William McKinley’s tariffs, the ‘60s–’70s outrages from the security/surveillance state. These rotted systems never self-corrected with a collective national shrug.
Donald Trump and his family are executing corruption at a scale never previously contemplated in the American experiment. If we are to ever graduate from this era of brazen graft, the first step is to notice.
If one would be advised to be a single-issue voter, corruption and character would be the place to land. It trumps everything else. It is in short supply in national politics these days. We should seek it out above all else.
P.S. This also caught my eye:
