1) Gold Just Hit $4,000! Ughh!

We called it in yesterday's Hotline.

We wish we had been wrong. Worrisome.

2) Question of the Day

Why does Harvard, with $53 billion of tax-free money in the bank, get billions of dollars of extra handouts from Uncle Sam that is $37 trillion in debt?

This waste of tax dollars makes no sense economically or ethically given that we have many schools, including University of Austin, TX, Hillsdale, and College of the Ozarks which get not a dime of federal money and charge LESS than Harvard.

It's also an outrage because the more money the feds give Harvard and the more money they stash in the bank, the more the tuition goes up! See the charts below:

3) GOP Senator May Block Urgently Needed Spectrum Sales

An unheralded feature of the Big Beautiful Tax Cut bill was authorizing the FCC to raise $88 billion through electromagnetic spectrum auctions. The money is to be used to reduce the deficit. We've been advocating for this for a long time.

Selling the 800 megahertz of spectrum will enable the U.S. to expand 5G and even 6G technology and assure American continued dominance in internet, AI, and satellite technologies.

Trump gets this and supports "freeing up plenty of spectrum for auction" to assure America's "status as the worldwide leader in WIFI, 5G and 6G."

This will also bring wireless and fiber services to an additional 1 million customer locations annually starting in 2026 to meet "soaring consumer demand."

What a great way to close the "digital divide" facing lower income families.

But now Republican Deb Fischer of Nebraska has inserted language into the National Defense Authorization Act that would effectively give the Pentagon a veto to block spectrum auctions - which they are likely to use to stop or delay the sales.

Selling sections of the spectrum would likely enhance Americans' safety by improving the capabilities of first responders. Meanwhile, China is intent on winning the next tech race and has allocated substantially more of their spectrum to the tech sector than we have.

Fischer's amendment is bad for our security and our prosperity.

4) Washington Post Confession: Obamacare Never Worked

Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder and current owner of the Washington Post, may actually be moving the paper to a more sensible editorial middle ground.

This week the Post took liberals to task for demanding an extension of costly Covid-era Obamacare subsidies as the price of ending the government shutdown:

“The real problem is that Obamacare was never actually affordable.... This is how entitlement programs work. Once you habituate people to some generous government handout, they grow dependent on it. And it becomes politically perilous, if not impossible, to fully claw it back. Conservatives fought so hard to stop Obamacare 15 years ago because they anticipated fights like this one."

It's taken a long time for the Post to report the obvious, but better late than never.

5) Trump's Great Idea to Expand Southern California Housing

On Friday, we noted the disgraceful situation in Los Angeles, where after nearly a year, 90% of the homeowners whose houses burned down are still waiting for permit approval to rebuild. But not too far away, in San Diego, President Trump may be considering opening federal land for new housing development.

Trump is reportedly zeroing in on Camp Pendleton, the Marine base between Orange and San Diego counties in California. It has 17 miles of coastline and 175 square miles that represent the biggest undeveloped piece of the California coastline.

In August, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan toured the base and opened discussions about possibly leasing part of the land. He is said to believe that careful development can coexist with the Marine Corps' use of the base and generate large revenues. He's right.

Next, Trump should help lower housing costs by empowering Doug Burgum at Interior to free up federal urban lands near such urban areas as Albuquerque, Las Vegas, L.A., and Salt Lake City.

6) Obama Gets the Last Laugh

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