As we and others have noted several times over the last year, the US government will be garnishing the wages of student loan borrowers in default – with actual garnishment now set to begin in January, CNBC reports. 

A spokesperson for the US Department of Education confirmed the plan, which will mark the first time a portion of borrowers’ paychecks have actually been at risk since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, when collection activity was halted.

Starting the week of Jan. 7, the Education Department expects around 1,000 defaulted student loan borrowers to receive notices of administrative wage garnishment, the spokesperson said. After that, the number of notified borrowers will continue to increase. -CNBC

While the US government can seize borrowers’ federal tax refunds, wages, Social Securiity and disability benefits, the Education Department can legally seize up to 15% of a student loan holder’s after-tax income to apply toward their debt. 

More than 42 million Americans have student loan debt, which now exceeds $1.6 trillion. 

There are currently more than 5 million student loan borrowers in default, a number which could explode to roughly 10 million borrowers soon, the Education Department said in April.

As the WSJ noted in June, 

Until past due payments are paid in full or the default status is resolved, borrowers could see up to 15% of their wages automatically deducted from their paychecks.

Borrowers who have been newly reported as delinquent since then on their student loans have seen an average 60-point drop in their credit scores, according to TransUnion. Nine percent of borrowers who fell into delinquency were current on their payments by April, according to TransUnion.  

The Education Department has been urging borrowers to resume payments and emphasizing the consequences. Roughly 43 million borrowers owe more than $1.6 trillion in student-loan debt. 

More than nine million of them are expected to see their credit scores drop this year, according to data from the New York Fed released in March. 

Meanwhile, the job market for Gen Z is looking beyond dismal – as hiring has been down for the better part of a year amid signs that layoffs are ticking up. 

According to a July survey from Cengage Group, of more than 2 million people who earned their bachelor’s degrees in the spring of 2025, just 30% reported finding a full-time job in their field. The report also found that around 76% of employers reported hiring the same number or fewer entry-level employees in 2025 vs. 2024, citing a tightening labor market, the rise of AI, and broader economic pressures that include inflation and Trump’s tariffs. 

According to Nich Tremper, senior economics for payroll and HR service provider Gusto, the slowdown is in large part due to overhiring during the post-pandemic economy in 2021 and 2022 which saw businesses offering high salaries to compete for talent. 

Layoffs, meanwhile, are at their highest level since the pandemic, with around 1.1 million announced job cuts between January and October 2025, according to data from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas cited by CNBC. 

“Folks are kind of just sitting still,” said Tremper. “They’re not looking for new roles, they’re not leaving their current roles. Without those new jobs available, it’s hard for an entry-level employee to get their foot in the door and start their career.” 

As of September, the unemployment rate for recent college grads reached 9.7%, the same as for 20-24-year-olds with only a high school diploma, according to the Fed. 

Authored by Gary Abernathy of the Empowerment Alliance via RealClearEnergy,

The Christmas season is upon us, a time of year when many of us reflect on the year that is drawing to a close and on the good times, the sad times, and the challenges ahead. It’s also a time of year when we count our blessings and express gratitude for any good things that have come our way.

While some may realize it more than others, all Americans should be grateful for one thing most of us tend to take for granted – light that appears in the rooms of our homes at the flick of a switch, heat that emanates through our floorboard vents or radiators by merely increasing the number on a dial or a digital pad, cars, SUVs and trucks that start with the turn of a key or the push of a button.

All these modern conveniences are made possible for even low-income Americans thanks to energy that is affordable and widely accessible.

In this increasingly diverse and often divided society in which we live, all Americans are united by access to low-cost, effective energy. We have been blessed for so long by affordable energy that we are sometimes in danger of taking it for granted.

But without the change in presidential administrations that happened last January – and with it the blessings of lowered inflation, a return to free-market principles and, especially, regulatory rollbacks (more on that shortly) – Americans could have been facing a much bleaker winter this Christmas season.

Under the Biden administration, inflation averaged nearly 5%, “hitting 9.1% during the worst inflation crisis in decades,” the White House recently pointed out. In the new Trump administration, inflation has dropped to an average of 2.7%, and “Americans have seen the first overall price decline since 2020.”

Even more impressively, the skyrocketing gas prices experienced under the Biden regime have thankfully been dramatically reversed. Americans “now see the lowest average gas price in more than four years and are on track to spend the lowest amount of their disposable income on gas in the last two decades.”

While energy costs remain relatively low compared to other rising costs, the Trump administration is working to tame electricity prices which began climbing in 2022 under the Biden administration.

One analysis showed that “from March 2022 to June 2025, average monthly energy bills rose from $196 to $265 – a 35 percent jump, or nearly three times overall inflation during that period.” Trump’s reversal of Biden subsidies and incentives that artificially propped up “alternatives” like wind and solar will begin to reap dividends in the coming months and years. The new administration’s fast-track permitting process for new exploration will supercharge our most abundant and reliable legacy resources, driving energy costs down.

But while politicians and pundits seem focused on “prices” as a measure of “affordability,” the long list of regulatory rollbacks in which the Trump administration has engaged will be the real catalyst leading to a more affordable life in the U.S.

Trump’s deregulatory efforts “are saving Americans a collective $180 billion — or $2,100 per family of four,” the White House notes. “For example, President Trump halted burdensome Biden-era efficiency standards that jacked up the price of everyday appliances.”

Earlier this month, in an announcement that did not get the attention it deserved, President Trump unveiled relaxed fuel economy standards “for the more than 15 million new cars and trucks sold in the country every year,” as the Detroit News reported.

“The plan, if finalized, would slash fuel economy requirements through the 2031 model year, to about a fleetwide average for light-duty vehicles of roughly 34.5 miles per gallon, down from roughly 50 miles per gallon under the current rules,” the story noted.

Administration officials rightfully said that “the new standards would increase consumers’ access to a wider range of affordable gas-powered vehicles and help hold down new car prices.”

“Today’s a victory of common sense and affordability,” said Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor Company, who joined Trump at that Oval Office announcement. It was great news for everyone who loves their dependable gas-powered cars, SUVs and trucks.

It’s impossible to overstate the scope of the catastrophe that has been averted by dismantling the disastrous energy policies of the previous administration. If the Biden-era subsidies, mandates and penalties had continued, Americans would likely be facing a much bleaker holiday season, not to mention the cold-weather months that follow for much of the country.

The gift of energy policies that promote affordability, accessibility and commonsense emission standards should be high on the wish list of every American family.

While this Christmas may be too soon upon us to expect delivery of such a present, passage of the Affordable, Reliable, Clean Energy Security act (ARC-ES) introduced in October by Rep. Troy Balderson (R-OH) would make the perfect gift from Congress and President Trump to all 340 million Americans in conjunction with America’s 250th birthday on July 4, 2026.

ARC-ES would codify low-cost, accessible energy into law, protecting energy security from the radical political whims of future far-left administrations. In this season of hope, wishing for such a gift in the next six months should not require a Christmas miracle – merely the will of our elected representatives in Washington to do the right thing.

“May your days be merry and bright,” Bing Crosby sings in “White Christmas” – merry because of the holiday, bright thanks to low-cost energy that is there when we need it. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Gary Abernathy is a longtime newspaper editor, reporter and columnist. He was a contributing columnist for the Washington Post from 2017-2023 and a frequent guest analyst across numerous media platforms. He is a contributing columnist for The Empowerment Alliance, which advocates for realistic approaches to energy consumption and environmental conservation.

A U.S. District Judge overseeing a lawsuit by Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia against the Trump administration allowed him to remain free from custody while she assesses whether the government can validly remove him from the country.

Judge Paula Xinis of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, based in Greenbelt outside of Washington, D.C., said that she was “growing … impatient” with the government’s attorneys, who are arguing that Abrego Garcia’s summary removal from the country to El Salvador on March 15—pursuant to President Donald Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798—was justified.

As Arjun Singh reports for The Epoch Times, Abrego Garcia, 30, entered the United States illegally as a teenager.

He had been granted, in 2019, a “Withholding of Removal” order by an Immigration Court, which prevents an alien who is otherwise deportable from being removed from the country, due to the finding of a credible fear for his life.

Thereafter, he lived in Maryland for six years, during which time he married a U.S. citizen and fathered a U.S. citizen child.

The Trump administration removed Abrego Garcia in March, stating that he is an “MS-13 gang member with a history of violence,” which he and his lawyers denied.

Democrats and progressive groups criticized the removal of Abrego Garcia in spite of the 2019 court order.

The administration said the removal was an “administrative error.”

“Why should I give the respondents the benefit of the doubt?” Xinis said during a hearing in the case on Dec. 22.

Xinis had issued a writ of habeas corpus—a constitutional remedy to release someone from government custody—to Abrego Garcia on Dec. 11, which freed him from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, and then issued a restraining order to the agency to bar it from re-taking him into custody on other grounds.

On Dec. 22, Xinis denied the government’s request to rescind that order.

“This is an extremely irregular and extraordinary situation,” Xinis said during the hearing.

Abrego Garcia also faces criminal charges in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee for conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal aliens and related smuggling offenses stemming from a 2022 traffic stop.

A federal grand jury indicted him on May 21, 2025, after which the Trump administration repatriated him from El Salvador, his native country, on June 6 to face those charges.

Any proceeding to remove him from the country would occur in a civil Immigration Court, created for the purpose of adjudicating removal cases, and would be subordinate to the ongoing criminal case in Tennessee. Xinis has prioritized resolving the civil habeas corpus case in Maryland before allowing Abrego Garcia’s re-detention for removal.

The Trump administration has been ramping up deportations of illegal immigrants, prioritizing those with a criminal record.

Critics of federal immigration enforcement have been protesting in support of Abrego Garcia. Outside the hearing on Dec. 22, which he attended, supporters cheered for him while a choir sang, accompanied by bullhorn and drum.

Abrego Garcia’s case, on interlocutory appeal, also reached the Supreme Court, which on April 10 ruled to grant in part and deny in part an application to vacate Xinis’s order, vacating the return deadline but requiring the government to facilitate his release from custody in El Salvador and process his case as if not improperly removed.

Authored by Mike McDaniel via AmericanThinker.com,

As the old aphorism goes: “Don’t tax you; don’t tax me. Tax that fellow behind the tree.” Nobody likes paying taxes, but most Americans accept them as a necessary evil and are willing to pay their fair share, unless politicians waste those tax dollars in extraordinarily—well—wasteful ways, or steal them outright.

I refer, of course, to California, where, as the classic Eagle’s song Hotel California goes: “You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.”

California, it’s no secret, is in deep financial trouble. In 2022, Gavin Newsom bragged about a $97.5 billion dollar surplus. By the 2024-25 budget, that surplus turned into an estimated $73 billion deficit. By the end of 2025, it’s likely far worse and virtually no one trusts state government’s estimates.

Graphic: X Post

A substantial part of the problem has been grotesque government overspending and fraud that reportedly makes Minnesota’s fraud totals look like couch cushion change. Newsom’s high-speed-rail-to-nowhere debacle hasn’t helped. And worse, Americans get to vote with their feet and U-Hauls. California is losing a taxpayer every one minute and 44 seconds of every day. This includes billionaires, of which California used to have a reasonably large supply.

What to do; what to do? Newsom and the one-party Democrat legislature know: retroactively tax fleeing billionaires!

California Democrats are pushing the retroactive billionaire tax targeting the roughly 220 billionaires residing in California in 2025. It signals not just desperation in the face of crippling debt and overspending but a recognition that California is chasing its highest earners out of the state.

The “2026 Billionaires Tax Act” would impose a one-time 5% tax on individual wealth exceeding $1 billion. While technically using 2026 wealth figures, it would apply to billionaires who resided in California in 2025. So you cannot hope to flee… at least with your wealth intact. It is a penalty for those who stayed too long hoping that rational minds would prevail in California.

Democrats have long whined that the rich weren’t “paying their fair share.” Make the rich pay what they owe and our budget problems, state and federal, will disappear, they claim. It’s a topic Bill Whittle addressed in a classic video titled: “Eat the Rich!”    Whittle, step by step, explored taking all the assets of the wealthy to fund one year of the federal government, and by that mechanism barely manages to do it, but points out that money covered—barely—a single year. All the assets of the wealthy are gone, every penny. From where—who—will the money to cover next year’s bills come? A one-time billionaire tax suddenly becomes eternal.

Californians can be certain if California gets away with a retroactive tax on billionaires, they’ll surely extend it to millionaires and then everyone else, and so will other blue states. But how does that work? How can a state tax people who don’t live there any more?

George Washington Law Professor Jonathan Turley explains:

The constitutionality of a retroactive tax has long been controversial. In Landgraf v. USI Film Products (1994), the Supreme Court declared “the presumption against retroactive legislation is deeply rooted in our jurisprudence… [e]lementary considerations of fairness dictate that individuals should have an opportunity to know what the law is and conform their conduct accordingly; settled expectations should not be lightly disrupted.”

Turley goes on to note several other Supreme Court decisions coming down on both sides of a bright line. And at Legal Insurrection, Mary Chastain notes that presidential candidate Gavin Newsom may have had a change of heart: 

Dan Newman, a political adviser opposing the campaign to tax billionaires, said Newsom is against a plan to slap a one-time, 5% tax on roughly 200 Californians worth more than $1 billion to “replace lost federal dollars and protect essential services,” as described by the campaign’s website.

That’s a tough one for Newsom. On one hand the financial disaster he’s made of California is likely to figuratively kill him in a presidential race. On the other, if he does decide to run, and he wouldn’t lie about a thing like whether or not he’s already made that decision, he’s going to need every billionaire buck he can find. Fleecing them after they’ve fled the state isn’t going to fill his campaign coffers.

Maybe Newsom won’t get the chance to do to America what he’s done to California after all—but he just might.

“They are prepositioning forces to take action,” David Deptula, a retired Air Force lieutenant general and dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, told The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday of the ongoing US forces build-up in the southern Caribbean. 

The WSJ commentary further assessed that “The movement of such assets indicates that the administration already has decided on a course of action” – though with President Trump it’s currently anyone’s guess as to precisely what that course of action will be.

The report unveils that a fresh and large number of special-operations aircraft, troops and equipment have surged into the Caribbean this week, over and above the significant amount of assets – including warships and a nuclear powered aircraft carrier – which have already been in place for months.

The additional groups deployed included special forces, described in the following:

At least 10 CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, which are used by special-operations forces, flew into the region Monday night from Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico, according to an official. C-17 cargo aircraft from Fort Stewart and Fort Campbell Army bases arrived Monday in Puerto Rico, according to flight-tracking data. A different U.S. official confirmed that military personnel and equipment were transported on planes.

It isn’t clear what types of troops and equipment the aircraft were transporting. Cannon is home to the 27th Special Operations Wing, while the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, an elite U.S. special operations unit, and the 101st Airborne Division are based at Fort Campbell. The first battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment is based at Hunter Army Airfield, at Fort Stewart.

An official statement from the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) negated to give specifics on the new units reportedly moving closer to Venezuela, but downplayed the movements as routine and standard.

“It is standard practice to routinely rotate equipment and personnel to any military installation,” said a SOUTHCOM spokesperson to WSJ. “And as a standard practice, due to operational security concerns, we do not disclose details or comment on U.S. assets or personnel operational movements and activities, nor disclose details of specific operations or routes.”

Currently there’s a lot of signaling from Washington, and the purpose of such stories as WSJ’s may be to continue instilling fear in Venezuela’s President Maduro. Of course, the White House is not going to push back at this moment on anything which touts the real threat facing Caracas. The US wants the government to feel the heat and pressure.

Meanwhile…

Venezuela’s military distributing rifles to the people in working-class districts. These militias will form an armed resistance to defend their nation if the US tries to occupy the country. pic.twitter.com/GCn0M3E8Fi

— Ollie Vargas (@Ollie_Vargas_) December 21, 2025

But the endgame remains unknown, and there’s been a good degree of confusion over this – given how long the Pentagon build-up has dragged on. Also given the Ford Carrier Group is positioned near Venezuela, the clock is ticking, and such a deployment is very costly which each passing day.

Authored by Ron Paul

Late last week, Congress passed and President Trump signed the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The bill marks the first time the US military budget officially passed the one trillion dollar mark. Of course, when you add in other military-related spending such as interest on the debt, veterans’ affairs, and military components of other government agencies, the true number is at least one and a half times that amount.

To paraphrase the famous 1953 President Eisenhower speech, “The Chance for Peace,” each of these dollars spent on military offense and the maintenance of the US global empire rather than on defense of our own nation is taken from the mouths of the hungry and off the backs of hardworking American families.

Congress is so addicted to military spending that they appropriated even more money than President Trump requested, including an unconscionable $800 million for thoroughly corrupt Ukraine. Will Washington ever be called to answer for why Americans, who are seeing their standard of living eaten away by inflation and a declining economy, should continue to subsidize a criminal regime overseas whose ruling class enjoys the comfort of golden toilets?

The Ukraine money also undermines President Trump’s claim to be a neutral mediator in the conflict. How can you be a peacemaker when you are sending nearly a billion dollars in weapons to one side to help kill the other side? It makes no sense.

Congress even included measures in the bill that would prevent President Trump from bringing any US troops home from real “forever wars” in Korea and Europe. For how many more decades must the American worker continue to subsidize a US military presence in countries completely unrelated to our own security? World War II ended 80 years ago and the Korean war some ten years later. Yet the American military empire remains, at an incalculable cost to Americans.

Some fellow critics will say this is all about welfare for rich countries overseas, and that’s partly right. But more than that, it is welfare for the politically-connected US military-industrial complex at home. Imagine how many retired US military officers and former US officials-turned-lobbyists might be financially inconvenienced if we finally “just marched home”?

This week Western Christians will celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace, with the Orthodox celebrating a few days later. It is disheartening that so many Americans who call themselves Christians also hold fast to a view that we must bankrupt our country and impoverish our people by playing policeman to the world and arbiter of whose regime must be changed by Washington.

Christians are among the biggest victims in these overseas operations, including in Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza. Yet many American Christians turn a blind eye to the suffering and misery produced by neocon-led militarism overseas. They don’t care that unquestioning support for Israel, for example, has nearly erased Christianity from where it was born.

Imagine if Jesus were born in the Holy Land today.

“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” That is the message of the Savior whose birth we Christians celebrate this week. Continuing to bankrupt our country and export misery overseas in the futile pursuit of a global military empire places us in opposition to this worthwhile advice. Let us all join together and work for a real peace in the New Year!

Authored by Laura Williams via TheDailyEconomy.org,

“Was the government to prescribe to us our medicine and diet, our bodies would be in such keeping as our souls are now.”

-Thomas Jefferson

Let me introduce you to Sam. Sam has obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. His diet consists mostly of refined grains and trans fats. He’s got cabinets full of dirt-cheap junk food and sky-high healthcare costs to address its effects. He takes home $27,000 a year, but spends $36,000. He’s in debt up to his jaundiced eyeballs, and he wants his niece to foot the bill for weight-loss medication.

As a real-life niece of my Uncle Sam, I’m concerned about his diet. Some 56.2 percent of the daily calories consumed by US adults come from federally subsidized food commodities: corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, sorghum, dairy, and livestock. While these calorie-dense foods once made sense for a government preparing for famine or total war, in recent decades they’ve instead helped make us fatter and sicker. 

Obesity is a top driver of healthcare costs. One study compared the health of people who eat mostly foods the federal government subsidizes to those who eat fewer. Those who follow the revealed preferences of what the government subsidizes (rather than the diet it consciously recommends) are almost 40 percent more likely to be obese and face significant diet-related health issues. Those with the highest consumption of federally subsidized foods also have significantly higher rates of belly fat, abnormal cholesterol, high levels of blood sugar, and more markers of chronic inflammation. All these are increasing contributors to the most common causes of death in the developed world.

The negative impact of subsidized crop consumption on health — while it can’t be called causal — persists even after controlling for age, sex, and socioeconomic factors. But life does not control for those factors.

The Great Grain Giveaway

The federal government recommends one diet to Americans, and subsidizes another. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans from the USDA and HHS promote eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, protein, and moderate dairy, while limiting saturated fats, sugars, salt, and refined grains. According to data compiled for Meatonomics, American agribusiness receives about $38 billion annually in federal funding, with only 0.4 percent ($17 million) going to fruits and vegetables. Just three percent of cropland is devoted to fruits and vegetables, despite USDA guidelines’ insistence that they should cover half of your dinner plate. Just 10 percent of Americans consume the recommended amount of fresh produce, and the poor consume the least. (Fruit and vegetable producers’ exclusion from the federal direct payments program provides a valuable example of a food industry thriving without significant subsidies. They do, however, rely heavily on migrant labor to lower costs.)

Instead, the US spends tens of billions annually to subsidize seven major commodities. The three largest farm subsidy programs contribute 70 percent of funds to producers of just three crops — corn, soybeans, and wheat. Approximately 30-40 percent of US corn, over half of soybeans, and nearly all sorghum feed livestock, heavily discounting high-fat, lower-nutrition meat and dairy (especially compared to grass-fed options). The prevalence of grain-fed livestock generates demand for commodities used to feed them, completing the circle. 

Subsidies also contribute to our consumption of refined grains, sugary drinks, and processed foods. About five percent of corn becomes artificially cheap high-fructose corn syrup (which allows it to compete with tariffed natural sugars), and half of soybeans are processed into oils, which also contribute to obesity.

My Uncle Sam is sick because he eats the food the government makes artificially more affordable. Those foods are poorer in quality and more harmful to health than their unsubsidized alternatives. We are paying to make ourselves sicker.

Diet-Related Health Issues Fuel Healthcare Costs

For more than 20 years, the FDA has known that trans fats and refined grains harm health, damage metabolism, and cause disease. Diet-related illnesses like obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure are increasing, while heart disease remains the leading cause of death. These epidemics are intertwined at the artery level, and both contribute hugely to rising US health care costs.

In an economic order awash with subsidies and regulation, agricultural policy is health policy. Government subsidies for agricultural products have shaped the current American nutritional environment, and they are exacerbating obesity trends.

An article in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine confirms: “Current agricultural policy remains largely uninformed by public health discourse.”

Johns Hopkins physician (and current Commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration) Marty Makary called out the disconnect clearly. “Half of all federal spending is going to health care in its many hidden forms,” he told an interviewer in October, but Americans continue “getting sicker and sicker… Chronic diseases are on the rise. Cancers are on the rise. And we have the most medicated generation in human history.”

We’re getting more medicated every day — and more of it is at taxpayer expense. 

A Better Answer Than Ozempic?

Government spending on healthcare now exceeds the entire discretionary budget. Excess weight is a significant risk for older Americans, who are also the most likely to both have high healthcare costs and to rely on government health care. Forty percent of Americans over 60 are classified as having obesity, which is a contributing or complicating factor in diseases that kill older Americans: cancers, heart disease, infection, stroke, and cirrhosis.

Late last year, the Food and Drug Administration approved the weight-loss drug Wegovy as a treatment for people at risk of heart attack or stroke. Medicare is forbidden by statute from covering prescription drugs for weight loss alone, but in 2021 regulators approved Wegovy for reducing weight-related risks in patients with diabetes. Medicare Part D plans spent $2.6 billion last year on related compound Ozempic to keep 500,000 patients with diabetes stable. Wegovy’s list price is around $1,300 per month, but that’s still small compared to the $1.4 trillion Americans spend on direct and indirect costs from obesity.

It has a certain economic logic. Instead of waiting for a patient to develop a cascade of expensive comorbidities like heart failure or diabetes, we could consider asking Medicare to pay for anti-obesity meds on the front end. That wouldn’t work as well as lifestyle changes, but all our health and activity messaging over the past several years doesn’t seem to have moved that needle, and significant evidence suggests our efforts are counterproductive. 

The Tangled Web of Farm Subsidies

To understand the insanity of American agricultural and health policy, it’s hard to do better than comedian-illusionists Penn & Teller, who in characteristically salty style explained it this way 15 years ago: 

High fructose corn syrup is a dirt-cheap way to add sweetener and extend shelf life. And why is it so cheap? Because we subsidize corn farmers! Our government gives about 10 billion of our tax dollars to corn farmers every year so they can produce more corn than we need. They then sell the corn at artificially low prices. They spend our money to make corn syrup cheap, and now the same government that uses our tax money to keep soft drinks cheap wants more of our tax money to make soft drinks more expensive. Does anyone else think this is incredibly f—d up?

Yes, Penn. We do. And since that clip aired, obesity rates have worsened 50 percent, and rose 78 percent in children. Medical spending on the consequences of obesity doubled. Over the same period, subsidies to corn growers (which includes disaster aid and insurance) have tripled. 

Rather than cut back on his terrible diet, Uncle Sam wants us to pony up for weight loss drugs — to undo what our food policy has done.

There are just nine days left in the year, and this year has flown by.

We’ve delivered readers a steady stream of 2026 outlooks over the past few days and weeks, and next up is a year-ahead catalyst list from Goldman Sachs’ small-cap biotech stock coverage.

Goldman analysts, led by Corinne Johnson, held their third “Year-Ahead” Catalyst Clinic, highlighting significant clinical catalysts for small-cap biotech companies (market caps under $3 billion) in their stock coverage universe.

Featured companies in the Catalyst Clinic included AbCellera Biologics, Allogene Therapeutics, Apogee Therapeutics, BioAge Labs, Entrada Therapeutics, Gossamer Bio, Gubra, Lyell Immunopharma, Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Sana Biotechnology, Sionna Therapeutics, Sera Prognostics, Tyra Biosciences, Viralgen, and Viridian Therapeutics.

Johnson said the sentiment from the event was mostly positive, with several names showing clearer paths to value-creating data in 2026.

Here are the key catalysts across Goldman’s small-cap biotech coverage, spanning immunology, oncology, metabolic disease, rare disease, and cell and gene therapy. Across the group, management teams highlighted upcoming Phase 1 and Phase 2 readouts, pivotal trial starts, and regulatory milestones:

• AbCellera (ABCL): Ahead of proof of concept data from the Ph1 study (expected in mid-26), management underscored the vast opportunity for ABCL635, the company’s most advanced wholly-owned asset under development for moderate-to-severe VMS associated with menopause. In particular, management discussed the benefits of an antibody approach (vs. small molecules) to targeting neurokinin 3 receptor (NK3R, which has been implicated in its role in neuroendocrine regulation and reproductive function), confidence in the ability of an antibody to cross the BBB and reach the receptor which sits on KNDy neurons in the hypothalamus (a key question for investors), and its expectations for a potentially differentiated profile per improved efficacy, safety/tolerability, and more attractive dosing regimen.

• Allogene Therapeutics Inc. (ALLO): The discussion centered on the interim analysis of the pivotal ALPHA3 study of CD19- targeted cema-cel in frontline consolidated large B-cell lymphoma, and initial clinical data from the Ph1 RESOLUTION study of CD19/CD70 dual-targeted ALLO-329 in autoimmune indications. On the former, management views the ~30% bar for the delta in minimal-residual disease (MRD) conversion rate vs. the observation arm as achievable and de-risking to the primary endpoint of event-free survival. Further, management highlighted the potential ~$5bn opportunity, aided by increasing utilization of CAR-T therapies in the community setting and awareness of MRD testing. On the Ph1 RESOLUTION study, management discussed the goal of establishing proof-of-concept and providing insights on the ability to eliminate lymphodepletion preconditioning.

• Apogee Therapeutics Inc. (APGE): We hosted APGE, where a catalyst-rich 2026 could potentially validate the product-in-a-pipeline potential for lead asset APG777 (anti-IL13). Management highlighted: 1) Ph1b data in mild-to-moderate asthma in 1Q26, where APGE seeks to demonstrate a Dupixent (anti-IL4Ra)-like profile, to support expansion into respiratory indications in combination with anti-TSLP (APG273); 2) Ph2 readouts in moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis, where management expects to validate 3QM/6QM dosing in the Part A maintenance study (data in 1Q26), and further interrogate exposure-response and inform dose selection for Ph3 (initiation in 2H26) in Part B (data in 2Q26); and 3) Ph1b proof-of-concept data evaluating the OX40L combination APG279 against Dupixent in 2H26, where management expects to demonstrate deeper and broader responses in a more heterogeneous patient population.

• BioAge Labs (BIOA): The discussion was focused on: (1) key 2026 catalysts, including additional Ph1 MAD data in 1H26 and Ph2a 12 week proof-of-concept data by YE26 in obese and inflamed patients to validate BGE-102’s (oral CNS-penetrant, NLRP3 inhibitor) impact on hsCRP reduction, although management views weight loss benefit as pure upside; (2) BGE-102’s potential in cardiovascular (CV) risk, where BIOA expects the NLRP3 class to be positioned as oral IL6 inhibitors, given the robust hsCRP reduction (~80%) seen with VTYX’s asset earlier this year and in three patients with elevated baseline hsCRP treated with BGE-102 in Ph1 – albeit, BIOA seeks partnership to advance BGE-102 in CV risk; and (3) other prioritized indications for BGE-102 to be disclosed in the near-term, with feasible development pathways for a small biotech, where BIOA looks to establish differentiation leveraging BGE-102’s strong penetration into the brain and retina.

• Entrada Therapeutics Inc. (TRDA): Management discussed: 1) potentially best-in-class efficacy with 40% dystrophin production after a single injection versus del zota’s ~10-11%, 2) preferential safety given efficient excretion of the oligonucleotide components, thereby circumventing hypomagnesemia, and 3) greater drug efficiency at lower dosing levels supported by a smaller carrier size.

• Gossamer Bio Inc. (GOSS): Management discussed: 1) differentiation of its TKI seralutinib versus historical comparators given improved tolerability from systemic drug elimination and potential for disease remodeling, 2) the company’s focus on an enriched population and statistical plan following learnings from the Phase 2 TORREY study, and 3) continued confidence in the regulatory outlook given consistency/alignment in interactions with the FDA.

• Gubra A/S (GUBRA.CO): Key takeaways from the discussion: 1) Gubra see potential for ABBV-295 (long-acting amylin) to perform in line with eloralintide in terms of efficacy, safety and tolerability, 2) management see ABBV-295’s c.11 day half life and extended Cmax as supportive of a monthly dosing regimen, and 3) Gubra see ABBV-295 being used as both a monotherapy and in combination with a partner.

• Lyell Immunopharma (LYEL): The discussion focused on ronde-cel (autologous CD19/20-targeting CAR T-cell therapy) in relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL), including: (1) the longer-term Ph1/2 update at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting, where the data continues to track competitively vs. approved CD19-targeted CAR T-cell therapies; and (2) pivotal trial strategy, where LYEL aims to demonstrate superiority vs. approved assets in the H2H study in 2L patients (enrollment initiation in early-2026), albeit approval is first expected in the 3L+ setting basis the PiNACLE study (final data in mid-2027, 2028 launch). Separately, LYEL also touched upon LYL273 in 3L+ metastatic colorectal cancer, where they expect further derisking per Ph1 updates in 2026 to support a pivotal start in 2027.

• Sana Biotechnology (SANA): Management and discussed the company’s key programs, where, post the recent pipeline re-prioritization, the focus is on: (1) SC451, its HIP-modified stem cell-derived pancreatic islet cell therapy for type 1 diabetes (T1D) – where SANA highlighted alignment with regulators regarding the GMP master cell bank and the path to an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) and Ph1 start as early as 2026 (noting the potential for initial data in 2026), and (2) SG293, an in vivo CAR T with CD8-targeted fusogen delivery of a CD19-directed CAR for a range of B-cell mediated cancers and autoimmune diseases – where SANA highlighted deep B-cell depletion and immune reset achieved in non-human primates with no off-target toxicity (supporting a potentially best-in-class profile), and management expects an IND/Ph1 start for SG293 in B-cell cancers and B-cell mediated autoimmune diseases by 2027 (but noted the potential for an accelerated timeline with initial data in 2026).

• Sionna Therapeutics (SION): Ahead of Ph2a proof-of-concept data from NBD1 stabilizer SION-719 in cystic fibrosis as an add-on to VRTX’s standard-of-care Trikafta in mid-2026, the discussion focused on: (1) the study’s goal of establishing the synergistic and additive benefit of targeting NBD1 and confirming the translatability of SION’s preclinical CFHBE assay, which is key to de-risking SION’s dual combination approach (Ph1 healthy volunteer data in mid-2026); (2) the bar for success, which managements views as a ≥10mmol/L improvement in sweat chloride given its historical translation to a clinically meaningful lung function benefit; and (3) the forward development strategy — while a dual combination is the prioritized path, management sees the potential to progress SION-719 into later-stage development.

• Spyre Therapeutics Inc. (SYRE): Management discussed: 1) SYRE’s relationship with Fairmount Funds, and related sister companies, 2) expectations for results from Part A of the SKYLINE study of 15-20% placebo-adjusted remission rates with comparator drugs annualizing at ~$5bn-10bn longer term, and 3) continued clinical progress for the SKYWAY study, with expectations heightened following the expansion of Roche’s and Merck’s TL1A programs, which SYRE views as validation of its approach.

• Recursion Pharmaceuticals (RXRX): RXRX’s incoming CEO Najat Khan and CFO Ben Taylor discussed their key priorities: (1) translating insights from the AI-levered Recursion OS platform to differentiated clinical data – most recently, with the positive Ph1/2 REC-4881 data in familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), where aligning with the FDA on pivotal design/endpoints is the key next step; (2) focused platform investments in high-value areas; and (3) financial discipline, including a high bar for advancement. Management also touched on the oncology programs, noting: REC-617 (CDK7) combination data in ovarian cancer in 1H27; first Ph1 data for REC-1245 (RBM39) in biomarker-enriched solid tumors/lymphoma in 1H26 and REC-3565 (MALT1) in B-cell malignancies in 1H27; and preclinical PI3Kα H1047R inhibitor REC-7735. Overall, we see the narrative changing for RXRX as it enters into late-stage development in FAP, and remain focused on execution on the prioritized programs.

• Tyra Biosciences Inc. (TYRA): Management discussed: 1) upcoming Ph2 readouts for dabogratinib (“dabo”; FGFR3 inhibitor) in intermediate risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (IR NMIBC; 1H26) and achondroplasia (2H26), 2) for IR NMIBC, expectations for >70% complete responses (CRs) for an oral therapy, with meaningful readthrough from 3-month data and potential for a Ph3 study, and 3) for achondroplasia, the goal to exceed average height velocity (AHV) of approved therapies (e.g., BMRN’s Voxzogo) with at least 7cm/year AHV, supporting a multibrand strategy.

• Viridian Therapeutics (VRDN): Management discussed: 1) Veli’s BLA status, anticipated decision on priority review by YE25, and potential launch as early as mid-2026, 2) VRDN is planning to launch veli in the US on its own and has been working toward an accelerated review timeline, 3) veli’s differentiated profile can potentially expand the current market size of Tepezza by ~30%, 4) VRDN’s Ph. 3 chronic trial enrolled all CAS scores and expects these results to be included in the label (vs. Tepezza’s that lacks chronic results), 5) the bar for VRDN-003 is Tepezza-like efficacy, 6) VRDN believes the market can potentially grow ~2-3x at peak due to veli’s and ‘003’s potential to expand use in chronic TED.

• Valneva SE (VLS.PA): Key takeaways from our discussion: 1) Phase 3 readout from VALOR trial of VLA15 in Lyme is still expected in 1H26, 2) Valneva reiterated that the aim has always been for VLA15 to deliver more favourable efficacy to that achieved by LYMErix, and 3) management highlighted the importance of an ACIP for VLA15 in the commercial rollout.

Overall, the Catalyst Clinic indicates 2026 will be a data-heavy year for Goldman’s small-cap biotech stock universe.

More broadly, the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB), the largest and most widely used ETF for broad exposure to U.S. biotechnology companies, has reached new record highs after trading largely sideways since 2021.

For Johnson’s stock ratings on each of the companies above, along with detailed 12-month price targets, ZeroHedge Pro subscribers can access the full note in the usual place.

Authored by Sundance via The Last Refuge,

Lawfare lawyer Kenneth Wainstein representing former CIA Director John Brennan confirmed in a proactive litigation letter to Chief Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga of the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida, their client is a “target” of a grand jury investigation.

The word “target” is important here, because the letter specifically outlines how Brennan has received subpoenas for documents and information surrounding his construct of the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment.

The letter notes that prosecutors from the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jason Reding Quiñones, have advised Mr. Brennan that he is “a target” of a grand jury investigation.

The letter by is by Mr. Kenneth Wainstein, a partner in Mayer/Brown law firm, Washington DC, who served in the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Joseph R. Biden Jr., and he describes a “concocted case” and “politically motivated and fact-free criminal investigation.”

Wainstein is seeking proactive intervention by Chief Judge Altonaga to block U.S. Attorney Quinones from seeking jurisdiction in the Fort Pierce Division, the court with jurisdiction over the Mar-a-Lago raid, led by Judge Aileen Cannon.

I strongly urge everyone interested to READ THE ENTIRE LETTER to understand why I shared prior warnings about the nonsense ramblings of perhaps well-intentioned voices who will create problems for this case against Brennan if it is to continue.

Pay attention to the footnotes being cited by Brennan’s lawyers as they begin to pull in some of the commentary by voices who have publicly given opinion about the overall Trump targeting operation.  Mike Davis name appears frequently in this letter, as the Brennan defense team begins to frame the conspiratorial nature of some claims against their client.

In essence, the Brennan legal team are attempting to refute the evidence by pointing to the blanket of some crazy commentary that covers it. This is exactly what I have been cautioning about {SEE HERE}.

U.S Attorney Quinones already faces an uphill battle, because John Durham already reviewed the ICA origination as part of his investigation – but Durham never prosecuted anyone inside government.

This year, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released a tranche of background information, [114 pages of information], showing how the Obama administration intentionally and with great purpose fabricated the Russia election interference story. DNI Tulsi Gabbard Press Release Here – Files Containing Evidence Here

What the evidence shows is a focused targeting operation intended to fabricate a false premise by the United States Intelligence Community, centered around a fraudulent CIA analysis (ICA) led by John Brennan, and organized through the Office of former DNI James Clapper.  The op was green-lighted by Barack Obama as a way to impede the agenda of incoming President Donald Trump.  All three branches of government eventually collaborated on the scheme.

Lawyers for John Brennan are now seeking to proactively undermine the grand jury proceedings and influence the venue where any investigation and review might be taking place.  [pdf, Page 9] 

In addition to sending the letter to the Southern District of Florida, John Brennan also sent the letter to the New York Times to help him frame a media defense.

[…] Pursuing the case in Fort Pierce, Fla., would draw jurors from a more conservative area than the District of Columbia and put it under Judge Cannon, who showed Mr. Trump unusual favor during the documents investigation. In particular, Mike Davis, an influential former Republican Senate staff aide and friend of Mr. Reding Quiñones, has pushed the idea of a Fort Pierce grand jury, warning Mr. Trump’s adversaries to “lawyer up.” (read more)

Again, get familiar with this letter, because you will find me citing it quite a bit in the next few weeks.

Wainstein and Brennan have made a significant strategic mistake by detailing their defenses, specifically by framing the background context of prior investigative authorities in their positions.  What they have inadvertently done for Jason Quiñones is to give a potential expanded witness list for a conspiracy review.

With information from a mountain of previous research, Quiñones can now call ancillary actors to testify as to the nature of their participation based on the storyline of Brennan.  Wainstein even cited the Robert Mueller investigation as part of his defense for his client.

Example, people like the SSCI chair Rubio, and/or Vice-Chair Warner, along with Feinstein’s lead staff Dan Jones, and/or the SSCI Security Director James Wolfe, can be called to answer questions within a grand jury proceeding based on the claims of Brennan’s defense team in this letter.

Former DNI James Clapper, former NSA Director Mike Rogers, former National Security Advisor Susan Rice and former counterintelligence officers could all be questioned based on Brennan’s defense.

All of the Brennan defense citations in the letter open up pathways for Quinones questioning.

In what could be the start of a major geopolitical crisis, moments ago Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a post on X that contact was lost with the private jet which was carrying Libya’s Army Chief of ⁠Staff, Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, and four other passengers. 

The Falcon-50 private jet had just taken off from the Turkish capital of Ankara in direction of Tripoli, Libya.

An emergency landing notification was received from the aircraft, at which point contact with the jet was lost, the Turkish minister added. 

Contact was lost as of 8:52pm local time over the Turkish capital Ankara, broadcaster NTV reported as flight ‍tracking data showed flights being diverted ‍away from ‍Ankara’s ⁠Esenboga airport.

As the following flight map from Flightradar24 shows, the plane was in the air for just a few minutes after take off, having reached an altitude of 32,400 feet when it disappeared from radar. The airplane of Yevgeny Prigozhin, once “Putin’s chef” before his fall out with the Russian president, suffered a similar fate when allegedly the plane exploded near cruising altitude after a bomb went off inside of it. 

Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper reports that the country shut down airspace over Ankara after the private jet incident. 

Turkey’s ‌defense ministry had ⁠announced ‍the Libyan chief of staff’s ⁠visit to Ankara earlier this ‌week, saying he had met his Turkish counterpart and other ‍military commanders.

Bloomberg reports that the Dassault Falcon 50 was 37 years old and was operated by Harmony Jets, according to data from FlightRadar24. The aircraft had recently flown into Ankara from Tripoli on Dec. 22.

Haddad as Libya’s army “chief of staff” is a reference only to the Tripoli-based GNA (Government of National Accord, or sometimes GNU) – one among several rival governments controlling Libya, but which is backed by the UN and especially Turkey.

However, what can be seen as the most powerful military is the Eastern government, based in Benghazi, led by warlord and general Khalifa Haftar, backed by Russia. Haftar soon after the war to overthrow Gaddafi returned from decades in exile in Virginia, where he lived with his family within a mere miles from CIA headquarters in Langley. Turkey has long been supporting a proxy war in Libya, against Haftar’s forces, and against Russian interests.

Developing