Dog bites man story

New government program starts with good intentions, ends with grabbing for more money: "As Cambridge eyes expansion of universal preschool, it weighs asking wealthier families to chip in."

First, the feel-good initiative:

When Cambridge rolled out universal preschool in 2024, it offered a benefit to families that was easy to understand: Every 4-year-old could go to school for free, regardless of their family’s income.

Then the money problem:

Now, Cambridge is weighing whether to expand the program to include free school for even younger kids. But officials say that tighter finances may force them to reconsider just how generous they can be this time around.

Oh no, we ran out of money for our new entitlement!  What can we do?

“I believe in universal preschool, don’t get me wrong. I do,” Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui said in an interview. “The question here is how do we help our most vulnerable. If that means doing some means testing, we at least have to discuss it.”

And there it is: we're not going ask all Bostonians to pay for this universal benefit.  We're going to "ask" the rich and then condemn them as selfish elitists if they refuse.

Tale as old as time.

Why can't we have more of this?

Hot Air: "Ezra Klein and Christopher Rufo on Identity Politics."

A rational and reasonable discussion of opposing viewpoints is possible.

Not a big shift

More like status quo ante: "The birthright citizenship ruling isn’t a catastrophe - The government has plenty of mechanisms to discourage birth tourism and illegal immigration." 

I never thought Trump was going to win this case but I was surprised at the 5-4 ruling.  I thought it would be more like 7-2.

It's the end of democracy!

Federalist: "In Landmark Ruling, Supreme Court Affirms That Presidents Run The Executive Branch."

Of course it was a 6-3 ruling where Sotomayor resorted to emotional arguments instead of the law.

America! We like our $

Wall Street Journal: "European Soccer Fans Marvel at the Splendor of America’s Suburbs - Dutch fans in Missouri see a nation that is risky and expensive, but vast and bountiful: ‘Everything is three times the size’,:

I thought this was interesting:

Everink parked his van just up the street and has become a local legend at the Alley Bar, where he watches most of the games. Over the course of his road trip, he’s noticed another big cultural difference: “Here, if you sit at a table, within five minutes they talk about money,” he said. “We never talk about money. We talk about ourselves.” 

I must confess that I've always talked finances with my kids and - happy to say - they're very good with their money.  In fact, I believe financial literacy should be taught in public schools.  Kids need to learn how to balance a checkbook and the miracle of compounding interest.

It sure is

Atlantic: "Higher Ed Is Very Sorry - Universities are studying how they lost the public’s trust."

Bill Maher is voting for J.D. Vance

Well, he didn't say that in so many words but Maher was clearly giddy to have the Vice President on his show: "This Bill Maher Episode Was Wild...and the Libs Are Not Going to Like It."

By the way, Maher took another opportunity to note that Democrats refuse to come on his show for a long-form interview.

Same vibe as "I'm not a biologist"

Twitchy: "Rep. Brandon Gill Puts on an Absolute Clinic as He WIPES THE FLOOR With a SNAP Witness."

This particular witness was asked about the nutritional value of Coca-Cola and she responded "I'm not a nutritionist." 

Here comes the pushback

Ace: "Denmark's Left-Wing Government Plans to Ban the Islamic Call to Prayer, Saying That Parts of Denmark Feel Like "a Suburb of Islamabad"

Understatement

Jim Geraghty: "Say, I’m Starting to Think These Iranian Mullahs Might Not Be Trustworthy." 

Decades and decades is not "temporary"

Legal Insurrection: "SCOTUS: Trump Admin Can End “Temporary Protected Status” For Aliens from Syria and Haiti."

I can't believe this case even went to SCOTUS since the law stated that TPS was under the control of the Department of Homeland Security which is part of the Executive branch.  Of course that didn't stop the Supreme Court liberals from their usual appeal to emotion while skipping over the whole law part.

I expected nothing different

Twitchy: "Hakeem Jeffries' Horrible, Terrible, No-Good, VERY BAD Week Just Got Worse As CNBC Host Calls HIM Out."

He has nothing - nothing - except "but Trump."  He was really exposed as an empty suit when Rep. Mike Lawler confronted him in a hallway on Capitol Hill.

Um...hooray?

There's a bifurcation of opinions on the Right about the DSA's success in New York last night.

Hot Air: "Politico: You Know Who's Happy About DSA Wins This Cycle?"  It's the House Republicans.

Democrats seem upset: "Dem Rep Summed Up the NY Socialist Takeover Perfectly."

Then there are those on the Right who sense this is a terrible turn of events: "The Dangerous Fallacy: ‘Exposing’ Radical Leftists Won’t Save Us — Their Voters Are Growing and Rabid."

This is my position, also.  We can laugh and point but the bottom line is that utterly insane Socialists are on the verge of being elected to Congress.  These people should be kept far, far away from the levers of power.  We can laugh and say it's New York or California but it wasn't so long ago that Rudy Giuliani was the mayor of New York, Arnold Schwarzenegger was the Republican governor of California and even Charlie Baker was the governor of Massachusetts.  Massachusetts! For eight years!

I'm with Matt Walsh here:

Unbelievably retarded for Republicans to gloat about communists winning elections. This is not some kind of win for the right and if you think it is, you truly have no idea what’s actually happening in the country right now. https://t.co/hAHbzUWox1

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) June 24, 2026

FAFO time

NY Post: "Lefty owner of anti-Israel NYC coffee shop calls US ally ‘Nazi Germany of our time’ in hateful online outburst."

Jim Treacher has more fallout:

Well, Poetica Coffee has now taken down their Facebook page and all their other social media. They’re getting clobbered on Yelp. Oh, and they’re being investigated by the Department of Justice. So that was a big Sunday for them.

They refunded a coffee purchased by Democrat Congressman Dan Goldman and essentially banned him saying they "we don’t serve racists, fascists, homophobes, genocide enablers." 

I have a feeling you won't be serving anybody soon enough.

This is the way

Hot Air: "Elon Musk Suggests He Could Sue Ro Khanna."

Twitchy: "Looks Like Elon Musk Has Had Enough of Rep. Ro Khanna's Defamation."

Ro Khanna made the mistake of defaming Musk from a podcast instead of the floor of Congress where he would have immunity.