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Trump’s Plan To Bring the Hammer Down on the Deep State’s Foreign Aid,
By David Stockman

Hot damn!

Not only has Elon Musk brought the hammer down on the entirety of the Deep State’s foreign aid boondoggles, but his sleuths have apparently also uncovered one of the Swamp’s most pernicious artifices. To wit, numerous Federal agencies, including USAID, purchase a shit-ton of expensive subscriptions from beltway megaphones like Politico, which by pure happenstance, of course, favor their agency subscribers with a steady patter of “news” that tracks right down the UniParty fairway.

And we aren’t talking chump change. These “subscriptions” for the “pro” version of various Politico newsletters, for instance, come at $3,000 to $24,000 a pop. Since two of the latter were purchased by the climate crisis bureau over at USAID you have to wonder what that had to do with feeding the world’s starving masses or why USAID bureaucrats needed high-priced climate policy gossip when their inboxes were already flooded with free climate change propaganda from dozens of other Federal agencies, Federally-funded think tanks, NGOs and anti-fossil fuel activists.

As it happened, the tab across all Federal agencies just for the various Politico publications accumulated to $8.2 million over the past nine years according to USASpending.gov. Since most of that cash flow was due to purchase of the high-price “pro” versions, we can only imagine the “deep” insights that must be contained in the “Politico Pro Analysis” at $5,000 per year. Well, at least compared to the regular political gossip/news contained in the standard “Politico” subscription at $200 per year that a smattering of political junkies out in Flyover America apparently purchase.

Yes, we have a thing against Politico mainly because it almost always comes down on the side of more government, more climate crisis claptrap, more Nanny State meddling and more war. But we also recall that it was founded by two former Washington Post reporters—a fact that triggered a trip down memory lane with respect to the one and same foreign aid spending machine that Elon has now sent crashing.

To wit, shortly after the inauguration in 1981 we were finishing the first Reagan budget and had taken a pretty good 33% whack out of foreign aid in a proposal sent over to the State Department on January 27th. Yet the ink was hardly dry on OMB’s detailed and well justified plan to save what was big money back then—about $2.6 billion per year–when our confidential budget “pass-back” to the State Department found its way into a screaming front-page Washington Post headline the very next day!

The tone, of course, was that you pencil pushers at OMB don’t dare interfere with the august business of running the world from Foggy Bottom and the Pentagon on account of budgetary considerations. In fact, when we had our showdown over the matter with the Secretary of State in front of President Reagan the former had a truly goofy way of teeing up the matter.

Said former General Al (“I’m in charge here”) Haig,

“Mr. President, your bean-counting budget director wants to embarrass you before the entire world by having you rear-back and shove your head straight into a pencil sharpener!”

Honest injun. That’s what the man said, apparently on the belief that spending in service of the Empire was not a matter for green eye-shades to trifle with, as the lead paragraphs of the Washington Post story make clear

The Washington Post

Huge Cutback Proposed in Foreign Aid

Reagan’s Budget Director Proposes Huge Cutback in U.S. Foreign Aid

January 28, 1981

By John M. Goshko

President Reagan’s budget director, David A. Stockman, has proposed the biggest cutback of the U.S. foreign aid program since its inception in the aftermath of World War II. It would slice enormous chunks out of every phase of development assistance, tie it closely to American political interests and make it subsidiary to military aid

A plan completed Tuesday by Stockman’s Office of Management and Budget calls for slashing the $8 billion fiscal 1982 foreign aid proposal submitted to Congress by former president Carter by $2.6 billion to bring it down to $5.47 billion. A copy of the OMB proposal has been obtained by The Washington Post.

To accomplish the cuts, Stockman’s plan calls for drastically trimming every facet of nonmilitary aid: direct bilateral assistance to Third World countries, contributions to multilateral development banks, international organizations such as U.N. agencies, the Food for Peace program and the Peace Corps.

If pursued by the Reagan administration, the Stockman proposals are certain to trigger an outburst of fierce opposition from foreign aid supporters in Congress and the traditional U.S. foreign policy establishment, which regards the program as one of the most important tools for influencing events.

In particular, some informed sources said yesterday, it is likely to provide the first test of strength between Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig Jr., who is surrounding himself with foreign policy moderates, and those on the far right side of the Reagan administration whose first emphasis is on draconian budget cutting and an unabashed “American First” approach to the conduct of foreign affairs.

Haig’s reaction to the Stockman plan is not known. But, the sources noted, if he accepts it in anything resembling its present form, he will be beginning his stewardship of the administration’s foreign policy effectively deprived of what all of his Republican and Democratic predecessors in the postwar period regarded as one of their most important policy tools.

As it happened, we mostly got rolled by what was already then the congealed UniParty consensus that America’s Homeland security depended upon the maintenance of an Empire abroad. Therefore massive amounts of humanitarian aid, development assistance and walking around money for foreign government allies in the developing world were part and parcel of that requirement.

To be sure, we did manage to wrestle Haig and his Deep State allies to a draw of sorts. That is, in today’s dollars of purchasing power (2024$) the foreign aid and state department operating budget posted at $33.7 billion in Jimmy Carter’s outgoing budget for FY 1980. By 1988, and despite all the internal resistance in the Reagan cabinet and end runs by the State and AID bureaucracies to the appropriations committees on Capitol Hill, the constant dollar foreign aid/state department budget had actually been reduced, albeit by a very modest 7% to $31.5 billion.

But that’s all she wrote. The same budget items today stand at $63 billion in the same constant dollars or more than double Reagan’s outgoing level. And that’s the case even though Haig’s main rationale for big spending on foreign aid—the need to counter Soviet machinations in the developing world—disappeared into the dustbin of history 34 years ago.

As it also happened, last time around the Donald naively filled his national security apparatus with Empire Firsters at the NSC, State, DOD and the intelligence agencies. Not surprisingly, when he reluctantly vacated the Oval Office in January 2021 the State/Foreign Aid budget had clocked in at $61.4 billion in constant dollars (FY 2024 $).

So in spending double what the Gipper had grudgingly agreed to under constant pressure from the Deep State national security apparatus, Donald Trump gave no indication during his first time around that he was an actual threat to the Deep State. And that’s notwithstanding the relentless attacks and opposition of the latter and its multiple attempts to defenestrate and ultimately impeach him.

Alas, this time around the barn the Donald may have turned Elon Musk loose out of a wanna be centi-billionaire’s crush on the world’s richest man, but whatever the motivation Musk has struck the gold we stumbled upon 44 years ago nearly to this date. That is to say, the whole complex of the State and USAID funds, which flow to the World Bank, the IMF, the various UN Agencies and literally thousands of NGOs and news agencies like Reuters, AP, the BBC, Politico and countless more are the mother lode of the Empire’s base camp on the Potomac.

Route that camp on the foreign aid budget and you will soon have the whole Deep State in a broad-based retreat as the entitled apparatchiks who populate it suddenly realize that their seeming permanent and ineffable grasp on unelected power has been shaken loose.

We can only hope that this time around the Donald realizes that if you can face down the dandies who run the soft side of the Warfare State, the 2024 election might actually mean something, and for the first time in more than four decades at that.

For removal of doubt, there is one thing Trump could do to ensure that this run at the foreign aid boondoggle is more successful than the one we tried 44 years ago. To wit, he could insist than an America First national security policy must focus tightly on an invincible nuclear deterrent and a powerful conventional defense of the North American coastline and airspace. But that it does not need an Empire nor a network of globe-spanning alliances and endless meddling in the internal economic and political affairs of distant lands that have no bearing on the homeland security and liberty of the American people.

In short, foreign aid does exactly nothing for true homeland security and should be eliminated entirely—lock, stock and barrel. That would reduce the bloated Federal work force by more than 10,000 bureaucrats in one fell swoop, and save upwards of $40 billion per year.

Moreover, there is a simple way to counter the beltway bleating about the defunding of programs to combat hunger, HIV/AIDS and diseases like cholera, malaria, and measles in the developing world. To wit, proclaim that all of these worthy efforts lie in the realm of philanthropy, not national security policy or the proper remit of government.

Accordingly, he could announce the establishment of a Humanitarian Help Fund and ask Bill Gates and the rest of the billionaire liberals class to each contribute $1 billion to the fund. That would shut them up right quick, especially if a large neon billboard were set up at the former USAID headquarters in the Ronald Reagan Building indicating the level of their contributions to date against the $1 billion target for each.

After all, there is no greater example of the mendacity of the UniParty consensus than the housing of USAID in the Ronald Reagan Building. While he held his nose on the aforementioned $30 billion budget, he never gave up his personal opinion that foreign aid is a giant rat hole. And we can attest to hearing that repeatedly and unhesitatingly.

Balance of Washington Post Story From January 1981

.…….Haig tentatively is scheduled to meet with Stockman and other senior administration officials tomorrow to discuss the aid question. At a news conference yesterday he paid obeisance to the need for budgetary austerity, but noted pointedly that foreign aid “can sometimes be a very cost-effective way” of ensuring the success of American policy goals.

Entitled “Foreign Aid Retrenchment,” the OMB document sets out as its underlying assumptions that “every major program should take some reduction,” that “bilateral aid has priority over multilateral aid programs” and that “security assistance has priority over development assistance.”

It goes on to conclude, “The primary impact of this proposal would be to eliminate or reduce U.S. participation in a range of multilateral organizations which are not responsive to U.S. foreign policy concerns. . . . The reductions in aid would mainly affect the poorer countries to Africa and the Asian subcontinent.

Bilateral development aid,” it continues, “could be concentrated on a small number of countries of key importance to the United States, perhaps at the loss of influence in countries of lesser importance.”

The Stockman proposals specifically argue that the United States should curtail sharply its contributions to the International Development Association, which is managed by the World Bank and which makes low-interest loans to the world’s poorest countries. Although the United States recently pledged $3.24 billion to the IDA for the 1981-83 period, the plan calls for Reagan to revoke the pledge and reduce the U.S. contribution by half.

In regard to other multilateral development banks, Stockman proposes that in 1981 the United States revoke its three-year pledge of funds to the African Development Bank, in 1982 stop replenishing funds of the International Fund for Agricultural Development and in ensuing years phase out its support for such other institutions as the Inter-American Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

The plan advocates big cutbacks of voluntary contributions to international organizations, and refusal to pay any unreasonable increased assessments. It specifically suggests U.S. withdrawal from the U.N. Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) because of its “pro-PLO[Palestine Liberation Organization] policies and its support for measures limiting the free flow of information.”

In respect to the Food for Peace program (PL 480), Stockman’s proposal would eliminate U.S. loans to needy countries to cover food purchases from America. It would continue to put U.S. surplus food into the hands of voluntary organizations such as CARE and Catholic relief agencies.

In addition to calling for cuts in bilateral assistance administered by the Agency for International Development ($686 million below the Carter-proposed budget for fiscal 1982), the plan says that the Peace Corps’ volunteer levels should be cut by 25 percent, a move that would force it to reduce its activities sharply and eliminate service in some countries where it now is represented.

Reprinted with permission from David Stockman’s Contra Corner.

Former Congressman David A. Stockman was Reagan's OMB director, which he wrote about in his best-selling book, The Triumph of Politics. His latest books are The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America and Peak Trump: The Undrainable Swamp And The Fantasy Of MAGA. He's the editor and publisher of the new David Stockman's Contra Corner. He was an original partner in the Blackstone Group, and reads LRC the first thing every morning.

Copyright © David Stockman

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https://www.1776lawcenter.com/

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Pick your favorite, if any, and add your own topic, comment or question as the Show Notes for the Sunday Show.

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Robert Barnes@RobertBarnes
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Barnes Brief: Friday, April 24, 2026

I. INTRODUCTION 

A. Art of the Week

  • Love the look & feel of old books (antiquarian in the colloquial parlance), as I collected them for years, but also feel more comfortable in their physical presence, enveloping you as you think, in the home libraries of yesteryear, connecting you to the thoughts and ideas of your ancestors, shared  just through the smell, look and feel of the leather-bound texts from the handmade book publishers of old, an initiating to retreat into the past and explore it like the recesses of one’s own mind for the thoughts that race across the page and whisper from the old ink stained pages. 

B. Recommendation of the Week

C. Wisdom of the Week

  • "Yesterday, upon the stair, I met a man who wasn’t there. He wasn’t there again today, I wish, I wish he’d go away. When I came home last night at three, The man was waiting there for me. But when I looked around the hall, I couldn’t see him there at all! Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more! Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door... Last night I saw upon the stair, A little man who wasn’t there. He wasn’t there again today, Oh, how I wish he’d go away..."  William Hughes Mearns. 

D. Appearances

II. THE EVIDENCE

*NOTE: A reminder: links are NOT always endorsements of the authors or their interpretation of events, but intended to expand our library of understanding as well as expose ideas of distinct perspective to our own. 

A. Barnes Library: Curated Weekly Articles

  1. Tankers skip blockade. https://www.ft.com/content/21dff2c7-1e27-4f74-81d8-31dcdbe9188e
  2. Doubts about madman strategies. https://substack.com/home/post/p-192512883
  3. Consumer sentiment new lows. https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/consumer-confidence
  4. Job market worries spike. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/703280/worker-thriving-declines-job-market-pessimism-grows.aspx
  5. MAHA status. https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/maha-check-up-united-states-getting-healthier

 *Bonus: Old school medical remedies. https://substack.com/@varianavolk/note/c-244056215

B. Best of the Board: Five Fun Posts of the Week

  1. Too true. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7876337/title
  2. Beauty in the backyard. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7878608/1st-goldfinches-were-at-the-feeder-today-they-left-before-i-got-my-camera-a-sparrow-did-pose-for-a
  3. Wisdom. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7877990/so-if-the-splc-paid-regular-people-to-pretend-they-were-nazis-in-charlottesville-there-really-was
  4. Recipes. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7877606/cooking-time-tonites-recipe-is-a-cheese-and-onion-quic
  5. Congratulations! https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7876028/just-found-out-that-i-passed-the-pe-practices-and-principles-of-engineering-exam-this-will-allo

*Bonus: Sarcasm. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7878157/title

C. Homework: Cases of the Week for Sunday

  1. SPLC Indictment. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7877843/professor-jonathan-turley-the-indictment-of-the-southern-poverty-law-center-on-federal-fraud-charg
  2. Insider trading indictment for soldier. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-soldier-charged-using-classified-information-profit-prediction-market-bets
  3. Ten Commandments. https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/25/25-50695-CV0.pdf
  4. Ghost guns. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/national-association-for-gun-rights-jared-polis-opinion.pdf
  5. Surveillance Accountability Act. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7878502/surveillance-accountability-act-this-is-new-legislation-put-forth-by-thomas-massey-and-lauren-boeber
  6. Loomer loses. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7878370/federal-judge-dismisses-laura-loomers-defamation-suit-against-bill-maher-of-course-it-was-a
  7. J6 CIA suit. https://Vvivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7874216/shauni-kerkhoff-sued
  8. Kash sues. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7876578/kash-patel-sues
  9. Powell case dropped. https://courthousenews.com/justice-department-drops-criminal-probe-into-fed-chair-jerome-powell/
  10. AI embarrassment. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7878598/https-x-com-smb-attorney-status-2046600985254977878
  11. AI invasion. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7878135/it-sounds-like-the-just-us-system-is-nullifying-the-4th-amendment-when-it-comes-down-to-using-ai-ie
  12. VA redistricting challenge. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7877770/hot-air-beege-welborn-virginia-judge-rules-va-gerrymandering-vote-unconstitutional-https-hota

*Bonus: GA 2020 election dispute. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7876741/https-www-courtlistener-com-docket-72267501-pitts-v-united-states-filed-after-filed-before-entr

** Bonus: Amazon caught. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7876825/https-x-com-ric-rtp-status-2046578708035604945

***Bonus: AI fakes. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7877192/robertbarnes-vivafrei-and-all-president-trump-posted-this-on-truth-today-april-22-2026

D. Deep Dive: Iran War Oil Price Impact

  1. Supply offline. https://substack.com/@hfir/note/c-248155408
  2. Supply shock risks. https://www.commoditycontext.com/p/sanguine-strait-stoppage
  3. Electricity price spikes. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7875883/us-electricity-bills-are-surging-average-us-residential-electricity-prices-rose-5-yoy-to-a-reco
  4. China energy resilience re: Iran War. https://substack.com/home/post/p-195176243
  5. Doomberg: war effects. https://newsletter.doomberg.com/p/backwards-looking

*Bonus: Chris Martenson.

III. CLOSING ARGUMENT: Iran War -- Exit, Don't Escalate

Trump's stated objectives of the Iran War cannot be won militarily without too high a price for Americans to pay, primarily in economic casulaties, but also in military casualties and domestic political casualties. Let's weight the risks and the realities of the means to obtain the potential reward. 

Rewards: a peaceful, democratic, pro-American, pro-Israel regime in Iran without a nuclear enrichment program, a long-range ballistic missle program, a long-range drone program, underwater drones, or minsubs, fast armed boats, to further secure an open-and-free (or US controlled) Strait of Hormuz for expeditious transport of essential goods, including energy, fertilizer, and supply chain critical supplies like helium, aluminium, and the like. 

Risks: Military casualties, in the injuries, disabilities or deaths of American soldiers, as well as diminished interest in service in the military from distrusted use of the military by military prospects, plus loss munitions, armaments, drones, weapons, jets, ships, radars, and military base infrastructure. Related thereto, the loss of perception of power in the projection of power, especially to the global south. Finally, militarily the undermining of our alliances in the middle east and Asia especially. Economic cacualties in the lost transit, and lost long-term control, of critical energy supplies, fertiliziers, and other essential and critical goods for the global supply chain, from helium to aluminum and more. Political casualties at home in fractured domestic political support, diminished capital for legislative actions, and risks of major midterm losses that could stalemate government and produce impeachment. 

How does a blockade of the blockade achieve the rewards? The theory is that Iran's inability to export through the Strait will cause them such economic difficulty that they will capitulate to give up their soveriegnty, forfeit nuclear enrichment entirely to the US, drop the missle and drone programs, and turn over power to another regime entirely. I see the chances of that as less than 1%. Iranian nationalism, Persian pride, and Shia sacrifical spirituality make surrender worse than death for this regime and many of the people. 

How does a bombing campaign achieve the rewards? If 40 days of 10K plus bombing targets didn't work, why would bombing a few more targets for a few more weeks achieve anything consequential? The no-bridges-and-power-plants war crime full Sherman approach only backfires by destroying all the oil infrastructure of the GCC countries triggering an economic apocalypse for America and the west, a retaliatory risk too great for any rational American leader to consider.

How does an exit achieve the rewards? It doesn't. But it does avoid the risks. And that's why exit rather than escalation is the rational America-First choice. 

 

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Robert Barnes@RobertBarnes
April 17, 2026
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The Barnes Brief: Friday, August 17, 2026

I. INTRODUCTION

*Tickets now for sale. Limited availability. https://www.1776lawcenter.com/

A. Art of the Week

  • The earth, shaded by the moon, from the photos by Artemis, by Musk’s SpaceX to explore the universe. Shades within shades, as the earth looks like a quarter-Moon from earth, but just in reverse. All is often just a matter of perspective. 

B. Recommendation of the Week

C. Wisdom of the Week

  • “But the wisdom that is from above is indeed first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.” James 3:17. 

D. Appearances

  • LIVE w/ Ed Dowd.
    placeholder
  • LIVE w/ Baris & Massie.
    placeholder
  • LIVE w/ Larry Johnson

II. THE EVIDENCE

*NOTE: A reminder: links are NOT endorsements of the authors or their interpretation of events, but intended to expand our library of understanding as well as expose ideas of distinct perspective to our own. 

A. Barnes Library: Curated Weekly Articles

  1. Iran deal possibility. https://substack.com/home/post/p-194261430
  2. Studying the Blob. https://www.blobstudies.com
  3. Israel support collapses amongst non-Boomer evangelicals. https://www.jpost.com/christianworld/article-786545
  4. Oil economy understood.
  5. Ukraine-Russian war.

 *Bonus: Artemis imagery. https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-ii-multimedia/

B. Best of the Board: Five Fun Posts of the Week

  1. Comedic relief. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7862387/title
  2. Appetizing images. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7862324/title
  3. Economic realities. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7862450/figured-i-d-share-a-very-local-economy-anecdote-from-my-area-i-m-a-homebuilder-in-the-ny-area
  4. Law school lessons. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7862399/i-am-sick-again-so-i-havent-been-hugely-functional-but-yesterday-in-a-criminal-law-class-we-ran-th
  5. Oil breakdown. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7862095/title

*Bonus: Meme magic. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7861462/title

C. Homework: Cases of the Week for Sunday

  1. SCOTUS: removal. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-813_3e04.pdf
  2. FISA fails. https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/17/spy-powers-expiration-closes-in-as-house-procedural-vote-fails-00878317
  3. Surveillance state controls. https://conservativeladiesofamerica.substack.com/p/the-parents-decide-act-doesnt-let
  4. Trump admin sued w/ rare Quo Warranto petition. https://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/desktop/document/BROWNvDeLeeuwDocketNo126cv01249DDCApr142026CourtDocket?doc_id=X5I57TSSSN08PDAPHKTHG7DTO30
  5. Eastman disbarred. https://www.calbar.ca.gov/news/attorney-john-eastman-disbarred-california-supreme-court
  6. Livenation verdict. https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/live-nation-verdict-faceplant-trump-132338276.html
  7. Ukrainegate. https://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/press-releases/press-releases-2026/4154-pr-06-26
  8. Popular vote compact. https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/lawreview/vol2012/iss5/3/
  9. Boasberg shut down.  https://media.cadc.uscourts.gov/opinions/docs/2026/04/25-5452.pdf
  10. Savannah Hernandez. https://www.newsnationnow.com/crime/3-arrested-turning-point-usa-reporter-video-assault/
  11. ICE officer arrest. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ice-agent-charged-assault-minnesota-metro-surge-immigration-rcna332210
  12. 1A & licensure. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/25-2991-shamrock-hills-v-Iowa-appelant-brief.pdf

*Bonus: Media censorship limited. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/04/ftc-takes-action-restore-competition-digital-advertising-ecosystem

**Bonus Cop case in Chicago. https://abc7chicago.com/post/ex-new-york-city-police-sgt-erik-duran-sentenced-throwing-cooler-fleeing-suspect-eric-duprey-killing/18861401/

***Bonus Gallego scandal. https://ktar.com/arizona-news/ruben-gallego-misconduct-allegations/5848619/

D. Deep Dive: Iran War Prospects

  1. The strategic surprise. https://global21.substack.com/p/america-has-never-faced-an-adversary
  2. Iran as new power. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/06/opinion/iran-war-strait-hormuz.html
  3. A grand bargain. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/iran-us-ceasefire-deal/
  4. The Israel aspect. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/israel-ceasefire/#:~:text=In%20order%20to%20do%20that,to%20further%20Israeli%20regional%20ambition.
  5. The Emirati angle. https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/the-united-arab-emirates-america-and-israels-frankenstein-monster/

*Bonus: The lego AI war. https://rumble.com/user/ExplosiveMediaa?e9s=src_v1_cbl

III. CLOSING ARGUMENT: The Power to Tax

  • The Preamble provides the purpose of the federal government to “insure domestic tranquility”, “provide for the common defense”, “promote the general welfare” and “secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” These balanced interests find manifestation in the enumerated powers articulated within the rest of the Constitution. 
  • Article I, Section 7 provides for “bills for raising revenue” including the enumerated power “to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposes and excises.” Article I, Section 8 imposes two restraints on the power to tax beyond the purposive restraint “to raise revenue.” All “duties, imposts and excises” must be “uniform throughout the United States.” Article I Section 9 prohibits any tax or duty on exports from any state and no capitation or direct tax can be imposed “unless in proportion to the census.” 
  • The Ninth Amendment further limits those enumerated rights to tax to a taxing power that does not “deny or disparate others retained by the people.” 
  • The Sixteenth Amendment expands Congress power to tax “without apportionment” and “without regard to any census” if imposed “on incomes” regardless of the source of those incomes. Effectively, it removed a federal tax on “incomes” from the apportionment requirement of direct taxes even if those incomes derived from sources that would otherwise require apportionment under Article I. 
  • This leaves open the big question: what is “incomes” under the Sixteenth Amendment? Congress abdicates the issue by using a self-referential and circular definition of income, which under English common law tradition, would negate any income tax since no tax be imposed without unambiguous specificity as to what is being taxed. 
  • The twin decisions that govern this are a dissent and a majority authored by the same Justice a near quarter-century apart — the dissent by Justice White in Pollock and his majority opinion in Brushaber. White considered incomes limited to its original understanding by the voters when ratifying the Sixteenth Amendment, and thus focused not on incomes, but the source rule. He felt a tax on anything other than land and people (capitation) did not require apportionment for its Constitutional imposition. The closest we get is “gain severed from the source” when that source is property or the person. 
  • Hence, a critical term to freedom from imposition by the state remains ambiguous and unanswered — what exactly is “incomes” within the meaning of the Constitution? 
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Robert Barnes@RobertBarnes
April 03, 2026
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The Barnes Brief: Easter Weekend, 2026

**Alert: Amos Miller Special Dinner Fundraiser: https://www.1776lawcenter.com

I. INTRODUCTION 

A. Art of the Week

  • Simple, delicate art by our own board member, honoring the Amish and their deeply American way of life. A return to our roots, a remembrance of our past, the connection to nature, the celebration of life, the spiritual grounding of all. The light of the Creator shines through the archives of nature, and especially in the lives, lifestyles, and unbeatable smiles of the Amish. Many thanks to Janelle! 

B. Recommendation of the Week

C. Wisdom of the Week

  • "What these neoconservatives seek is to conscript American blood to make the world safe for Israel.” Pat Buchanan. 

D. Appearances

  • LIVE w/ Massie, etc on Massie Money Bomb. Starts about the 9 hour mark.
  • LIVE w/ Joe Kent
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  • LIVE w/ Daniel Davis

II. THE EVIDENCE

*NOTE: A reminder: links are NOT endorsements of the authors or their interpretation of events, but intended to expand our library of understanding as well as expose ideas of distinct perspective to our own. 

A. Barnes Library: Curated Weekly Articles

  1. Nuke the petrodollar? https://substack.com/home/post/p-193046193
  2. Hersh: ground war incoming. https://substack.com/home/post/p-192971172
  3. Shifting means of war. https://substack.com/@notesongeopolitics/note/c-227238425
  4. Oil market troubles. https://substack.com/home/post/p-192157738
  5. China dependency. https://substack.com/home/post/p-183818706

 *Bonus: Disruption over dominance. https://chandragupta.substack.com/p/adaptation-asymmetry-why-disruption

B. Best of the Board: Five Fun Posts of the Week

  1. Good, Good Friday. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7825982/robertbarnes-robertgouveia-vivafrei-amen
  2. Massie is the goat. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7823804/massie-is-the-goat
  3. Meme magic. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7824054/title
  4. Familial art. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7823418/hobby-time-so-i-took-a-picture-of-my-grandson-troy-and
  5. Biblical hope.https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7816973/as-i-awoke-this-morning-god-brought-a-verse-to-my-mind-im-watching-nearly-everyone-losing-hope-an

*Bonus: Board poll & discussion. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7826542/board-poll-iran-war

C. Homework: Cases of the Week for Sunday

  1. Pay-for-Play Pam fired. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7817841/well-well-well-our-robertbarnes-was-just-a-couple-days-off-edit-sorry-robert-your-date-was-ap
  2. SCOTUS: Birthright Citizenship. https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/2025/25-5146_6468.pdf
  3. Generals sacked. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7823954/title
  4. Chaz death verdict. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7823874/judge-denies-seattles-demand-for-new-trial-over-30-5-million-verdict-in-2020-chaz-shooting-death-o
  5. J6 pipe bomber exposed. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7815188/this-is-a-bombshell
  6. Tine Peters appeal outcome. https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Tina_Opinion-1.pdf
  7. OKeefe 2A threatened. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7825133/https-youtube-com-watch-v-rzgl9wihqrs-si-kzhahe-xmdlxm00v-technically-he-doesnt-have-to-show-up
  8. Vance fraud czar. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7826391/i-feel-like-we-ve-seen-this-script-before-hopefully-it-has-a-different-ending-https-x-com-the
  9. Dalaiden dismissed. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7819571/finally-all-charges-dismissed-against-david-daleiden-evidence-baby-parts-for-sale-after-11-years
  10. Nutty Colorado rules. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7823702/https-x-com-ianspeir-status-2039724650150994362
  11. Bulls players dismissed for his religious views. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7826147/professor-jonathan-turley-below-is-my-column-in-the-new-york-post-on-the-termination-of-chicago-bu
  12. Time for enforcement. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7823424/https-x-com-afpost-status-2039789171112345664-the-mass-deportation-coalition

*A Board question. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7817093/could-any-of-the-illustrious-attorneys-on-the-board-please-explain-this-to-me-how-is-it-legal-to-ad

**Self-defense? https://courthousenews.com/maui-doctor-claims-self-defense-in-trial-over-wifes-cliffside-attack/

***Sony settlement for gamers. https://courthousenews.com/gamers-near-7-million-settlement-in-playstation-credits-with-sony/

D. Deep Dive: The Gulf 

  1. The genetic gulf between the Arabs & Iranians.
  2. The gulf within the Gulf.
  3. MBS: the Call of Duty fan in charge of the Saudis.
  4. Dubai mirage.
  5. The peculiar history of the Gulf.

*Doomberg: China doesn’t need the Gulf or Iran.

III. CLOSING ARGUMENT: The Constitutional Constrictions on Holding Office

  • Article I, Section 3 conditions holding office as a Senator to those at least 30 years old, a citizen for at least 9 years, and an inhabitant of the state they represent at the time of election. 
  • Article I, Section 2 conditions holding office in the House of Representatives to those at least 25 years of age, a citizen for at least 7 years, and an inhabitant of the state they represent at the time of election. 
  • Article II, Section 1 requires anyone holding the office of the Presidency by a natural born Citizen, at least 35 years of age, and 14 years a resident within the country. 
  • Amendment XIV requires anyone holding the office of Senator or Representative to not have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the United States, not “given aid or comfort to the enemies” of the United States, the latter being defined to times of war. 
  • Amendment XXII further restricts Presidential office to those not elected more than twice and to ten years of Presidential service. 
  • Amendment XXV provides the protocol for a President “unable to discharge the power and duties of his office” permitting his removal on stricter grounds provided for by Impeachment and Removal clauses within the Constitution. 
  • The question thus beckons: if a minimum age be required for holding office, what about a maximum age? Should there be a mandatory retirement age for holding office? Why? Because their elder leaders were George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, not Nancy Pelosi or Joe Biden. Time to reconsider. 
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