FDL Review

The Constitution of the United States, as written by the Founding Fathers, is the most brilliant governmental compact ever established. Senator Daniel Webster, a member of the Great Triumvirate, was right on the money when he said that the document is “the work of the purest patriots and wisest statesmen that ever existed, aided by the smiles of a benign Providence.”


The Constitution is a simple document, but its elegance is extracted from the fact that it brilliantly established three federal branches that hold limited power and jurisdiction. These national institutions check one another and are in turn subject to further checks by state governments. Central power is limited, and the states reserve the remaining mandate for governance. Overreach by Washington, D.C. is constrained and individual liberty is maximized.

However serene the arrangement, contemporary political movements are generally in support of moving away from the Founders’ Constitution. Advocates for authoritarian popu…

The Federal Reserve System raised the federal funds rate, which determines U.S. interest rates, from .5-.75% all the way to 2.25-2.50% following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. As we noted in our flagship editorial on monetary policy, these hikes sprouted from the Fed's over-reliance on Phillips curve, which led them to intentionally dampen economic growth. They did their job so well that it was to a fault:

Between the September 27, 2018 rate hike and the aftermath of the December 20, 2018 increase, the Dow Jones industrial average shed a total of 4,648 points.

Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond plunged from 3.06% (September 27th) to 2.74% (December 24th) while the 1-month yield surged from 2.1% to 2.42%. The indication is that as the Fed continuously hiked their rates, investors became more and more frightened: The Treasury had to pay more to service short-term debt because creditors, unsure about short-term economic conditions, flocked to long-ter…

The Brexit Party, the four-month-old brainchild of Nigel Farage, is projected to win the plurality of Britain's seats in the European Parliament. A recent poll by YouGov shows the Brexit Party commanding 37% of the votes, trouncing Labor and the Conservatives, who are polling at 13% and 7%, respectively. The actual vote was held Thursday and results are expected to come out Sunday.


The early success of the fledgling Brexit Party are much to the dismay of the mainstream media, with The New Yorker decrying "The Alarming Return of Nigel Farage." However, for everyone other than the journalistic bourgeoisie, it is abundantly obvious why Farage has commanded such a lead: Britain is still electing European parliamentarians, three years after voting to leave the E.U.
On that fateful day in June 2016, in the face of the unelected body of bureaucratic tyrants that is the E.U., the British people cried out and said, "Enough!"
Nonetheless, the British are still living und…

In 1939's Gone With the Wind, a Southern belle takes a nouveau riche's hand in a dance. This is to the chagrin of her Aunt Pittypat, who exclaims, "Oh dear, oh dear, where are my smelling salts? I think I shall faint!"

Stories of landed gentry finding true love outside of caste-based parameters, much to the disapproval of the vieux riche, are as old as time. Now, in the made-for-television era of President Donald Trump, the narrative of class struggle is playing out in the unlikeliest of arenas: monetary policy.
Through posts on Twitter, the president announced that he will nominate Herman Cain and Stephen Moore to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Cain, a restauranteur, was formerly chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and president of the National Restaurant Association. Moore, the co-founder of the Club for Growth, is a prominent economic commentator currently serving as a fellow at the Heritage Foundation. Moore's credentials are burnishe…

Several days ago, the front page of POLITICO, reliably a left-leaning journal, was graced by a surprising banner: "How Trump is on track for a 2020 landslide."

The article focused on economic models, including one from Yale that has President Donald Trump winning 54% of the popular vote. Another, from TrendMacrolytics, predicts a 416-122 Electoral College win for the president (the final count in 2016 was 304-227).

While FDL Review prefers to use titlecase for headlines, we appreciate POLITICO's sobriety. It is obvious that their journalists have learned the lessons of the 2016 election, when the pollsters and the commentariat were measuring Secretary Hillary Clinton's White House drapes.


Of course, Clinton was vanquished by Donald Trump in an upset surprising to everyone except those who had examined the fundamental indicators: weak economic data, widespread despair, and a willingness to drastically change the culture of Washington, D.C.

If POLITICO's reporting …

The results of a fresh Morning Consult poll show a four-point uptick in President Donald Trump's approval rating, which is now measured at 45%. 51% disapprove of the job that Trump is doing as president.

Morning Consult's results compare to those of Rasmussen Reports, who found that the president has a 50% approval rating and a 49% disapproval rating.


The popularity of the proposed border wall has also improved: 47% of Morning Consult respondents support the wall, while 47% are in opposition.

These findings compare to those of Rasmussen, who showed that "59% of Likely U.S. Voters think border security is a vital national security interest for the United States these days."

However, according to Morning Consult, 76% of voters want the president to sign off on the congressional negotiations that agreed on just $1.38 billion for wall funding.

Regarding presidential impeachment, only 39% see it is as a "top" or "important, but lower" priority. 51% see…