Common Sense with Paul Jacob - Presented by Think Freely Media

A Great Un-Finding

In 2009, President Obama and the EPA decided that the will‑o’-the-wisp of fine-tuning the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere fell under the agency’s purview. They introduced a not-so-thin wedge to pry open a vast new province of regulatory oppression.

Obama had sought congressional legislation, but Congress had balked.

So he proceeded without any new laws; or rather, as so often happens, told an agency to issue new laws. (According to one explanation of the difference between laws and regulations, regulations are rules to implement laws. This doesn’t cover the case of regulations or “findings” that are tantamount to new laws although no elected representatives passed them.)

“Health” was at stake, the tyrants declared.

The flourishing of industrial civilization, and thus of human beings, are also matters of health. But no matter.

One consequence of the EPA’s newfound authority was the issuance of other dire “rules,” like the Biden-era mandate that most American-made vehicles be electric by 2032.

Now things may change.

Bigly.

President Trump has ordered the EPA to un-find its 2009 “finding” that it has blanket authority to regulate human emission of greenhouse gases.

The change will be challenged in court.

The Trump administration doubtless expects — perhaps even wants — the litigation. A favorable Supreme Court ruling would block the EPA from re-finding its finding during future administrations. Then legislation — actual, congressional — would be the only way to reimpose the craziness.

A circumstance in which the people might have a say.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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Tags carbon emissions, climate change, EPA, finding

Thought

Miranda July

Common sense and the truth should feel authorless, writ by time itself.
Miranda July, “The Shared Patio,” in Zoetrope All-Story (Winter 2005).

Today

Silver Coinage

On February 16, 1878, the Bland-Allison Act, which provided for a return to the minting of silver coins, became U.S. law.

Update

Oregon Medicaid Fraud?

Defrauding the welfare state is not just a Minnesota practice. A developing story about a vaporous business near Portland, Oregon, linked to Medicaid fraud, kidnapping and torture, Venezuelan gang activity, and a pastor serving East Africans in America:

Oregon Roundup Foundation reported last summer OHA paid Uplifting Journey $2.3 million in drug and alcohol treatment Medicaid reimbursements for reported dates of service from April 15, 2024 to March 14, 2025. In January of this year, Washington prosecutors charged one man who allegedly lived in a Lake Oswego, Oregon house operated by Uplifting Journey with kidnapping, torturing and attempting to murder a Seattle area woman. Prosecutors allege another man living in the house participated in the crimes, but has not been apprehended.

Oregon Roundup Foundation reported last week Arizona pastor Theodore Mucuranyana, accused of laundering millions originating from a $60 million Arizona Medicaid fraud ring, co-signed for Uplifting Journey on a lease for a house to serve as a residential treatment facility in Gresham, Oregon in November 2024. Mucuranyana pastors the Hope of Life International Church, which caters to east African congregants in the Phoenix, Arizona area. The Arizona Attorney General alleges Mucuranyana funneled some of the fraudulent proceeds to an entity in Rwanda.
Jeff Eager, “Health Authority withheld plea for “scrutiny” of Uplifting Journey” (December 14, 2025).

The same reporter appears to be alone on the coverage (it’s hard to find anyone else). His last relevant post on his Substack site was in early February, basically informing us of the latest. The upshot? Little due diligence had been done by a government eager to give millions out in grants:

Oregon Health Authority chose to forego criminal background checks and site visits when it approved Uplifting Journey LLC to receive Medicaid reimbursements and subsequently paid the company at least $2.3 million, according to an agency spokesperson. One Uplifting Journey owner, Espoir Ntezeyombi, is a business associate of a man charged by Arizona’s Attorney General with orchestrating a $60 million Medicaid fraud scheme, an Oregon Roundup Foundation investigation found.…

Uplifting Journey told OHA it would provide services at an address on N Broadway in Portland. An August visit during business hours showed the office apparently closed, with a paper sign on the door and mattresses and full plastic trash bags in the space. Because OHA chose the lightest level of scrutiny for Uplifting Journey, OHA was not required to conduct a site visit of the Portland location.
Jeff Eager, “OHA: No Uplifting Journey Background Checks” (February 3, 2026).

The story has its lurid elements; nevertheless, those elements have yet to entice much press notice. That Pastor Theo Mucuranyana linkage — the headlines almost write themselves! It’s almost as if the old days of Yellow Journalism — where Story was All — have been replaced with the present days of propagandistic pfiffle … and nothing but the pfiffle. If the news doesn’t serve the State and its ever-metastasizing growth, then the news remains unstated.

Thought

Bismarck

Mein lieber Professor, ein solcher Krieg hätte uns wenigstens 30,000 Mann brave Soldaten gekostet, und uns im besten Falle keinen Gewinn gebracht. Wer aber nur ein Mal in das brechende Auge eines sterbenden Kriegers auf dem Schlachtfeld geblickt hat, der besinnt sich, bevor er einen Krieg anfängt.

My dear Professor, a war would have cost us at least 30,000 brave soldiers, and at best we should have gained nothing by it. Besides, anyone who has once looked into the glassy eyes of a dying warrior on the battle-field would think twice before beginning a war.
Minister President Otto von Bismarck, of Prussia, remarks of June 1867 defending provisions of the Treaty of London (May 11, 1867), as quoted by Wilhelm Görlach in Prince Bismarck: A Biographical Sketch (1875), p. 13.

Today

Remember the Maine

On February 15, 1898, the USS Maine, a battleship, exploded in the Cuba’s Havana harbor, killing 260 American sailors. An official U.S. Naval Court of Inquiry ruled in March 1898 that the ship was blown up by a mine, without directly blaming Spain. Nonetheless, Congress declared war and, within three months, the U.S. had decisively defeated Spanish forces. On December 12, 1898, the Treaty of Paris was signed between the U.S. and Spain, granting the United States its first overseas empire with the ceding of such former Spanish possessions as Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.

In 1976, a team of American naval investigators concluded that the Maine explosion was likely caused by a fire that ignited its ammunition stocks, not by a Spanish mine or act of sabotage.

Update

A Very Epstein “Meet Cute”?

Post author By Redactor
Post date February 14, 2026
No Comments on A Very Epstein “Meet Cute”?

It’s Valentine’s Day, and time to acknowledge that the First Couple have a contested “meet cute” story.

The official story?

Donald Trump and Melania Knauss (now Trump) first met in September 1998 at a New York Fashion Week party hosted by Paolo Zampolli, an Italian modeling agent and businessman who had signed Melania to his agency (ID Models) earlier that year. Zampolli has consistently claimed credit for the introduction, and both Donald and Melania Trump have publicly corroborated this account over the years, including in Melania’s 2024 memoir Melania (where she describes the meeting at the Kit Kat Club). At the time, Trump was 52 and still legally married to Marla Maples (their divorce finalized in 1999), though he attended the event with another date, Norwegian heiress Celina Midelfart. Melania, then 28, reportedly refused to give Trump her number initially but called him later, leading to their first date.

But that is not how Whitney Webb tells the tale.

Author of the two-volume One Nation Under Blackmail (2022), Ms. Webb has appeared on several podcasts noting that Jeffrey Epstein’s modeling ties (via Ghislaine Maxwell’s recruitment and Les Wexner’s Victoria’s Secret empire) allowed Epstein to leverage “beautiful women” for influence, including potential matchmaking. She has alleged Epstein’s operations included procuring young women for elite men, sometimes under the guise of legitimate modeling or social introductions, naming Melania as having been “allegedly” introduced to Trump by Epstein.

So where are such allegations?

In the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) release of over 3.5 million pages of Epstein-related documents in phases starting in late 2025, culminating in a massive January 30, 2026, dump, as mandated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed by the president. These include FBI interviews, emails, flight logs, and much more from investigations into Epstein’s sex trafficking as well as Ghislaine Maxwell’s 2020 – 2022 trial.

An 11-page FBI report from August 2025 quotes a former Epstein assistant (who worked for him 2005 – 2006) stating that Epstein “introduced MELANIA TRUMP to DONALD TRUMP.” This directly contradicts the Zampolli story and suggests Epstein played a matchmaking role. The assistant’s identity is redacted.

Not so cutely met. If true.

Melania and Donald married on January 22, 2005.

Thought

Bill Maher

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but where does QAnon go for the apology?
Comedian Bill Maher, speaking about the Jeffrey Epstein story, on Straight Shooter with Stephen A., SiriusXM (February 4, 2026).

Today

Saint Valentine

On February 14, A.D. 278, Valentine, a priest in Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius II, was executed.

In order to facilitate the raising of an army for his unpopular military campaigns, the emperor outlawed all marriages and engagements. Valentine defied Claudius’s order and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. Once discovered, Valentine was arrested and condemned by the Prefect of Rome to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. The sentence was carried out on February 14.

Valentine was named a saint by the Roman Catholic Church after his death.

Though February 14th is celebrated as “St. Valentine’s Day,” in today’s vernacular, the 14th of February, 278, was, ahem, “not his day.”

obituary term limits

Ed Crane’s Beautiful Panacea

Post author By Redactor
Post date February 13, 2026
3 Comments on Ed Crane’s Beautiful Panacea

Ed Crane, Libertarian, obituary, CATO Institute, freedom

“A great light has gone out,” offered my friend Tom Palmer.

Ed Crane, the most important libertarian in my lifetime, passed away earlier this week, at age 81.

“On the exclusive list of persons who have had the greatest impact on the pro-liberty movement, Ed Crane’s name is preeminent,” wrote Bob Levy, chairman emeritus of Cato. “He built the Cato Institute from an inconspicuous, small-scale operation into a public policy powerhouse — the world’s foremost proponent of individual liberty and limited government.”

Years ago, my wife worked as Ed’s assistant and in other roles at the Institute. She even convinced him to give me a job in the mailroom. When I left Cato (and my mailroom career), I marched into his office and deadpanned: “Ed, I think I’ve taken Cato just as far as I can.”

We both laughed. He seemed to have it well in hand from there.

Crane had already put the Libertarian Party on the map with Ed Clark’s impressive 1980 presidential run. That’s how I first got to know both Eds, serving (at age 19) as the chair of the Arkansas Libertarian Party and the Clark campaign. So glad to have been part of it; sad that it remains the high-water mark for the party.

In his tribute, Bradley Smith, the former FEC Commissioner and now chairman and founder of the Institute for Free Speech, noted that “Ed was instrumental in helping to found the Institute for Free Speech — originally called the Center for Competitive Politics, a name Ed came up with (nobody’s perfect).”*

Still, as I told U.S. Term Limits head honcho Howie Rich, what comes to mind when I think about Ed is the fact he was the only person who loved term limits even more than we do.

Ed was a tireless advocate and Cato a leading producer of good information on the issue. Speaking about term limits, Ed would repeat the common refrain, “Folks say term limits are not a panacea.”

Only to counter: “Yes, they are.”

Thank you, Ed.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

P.S. Love and condolences to Kristina, Ed’s wife, who is spectacularly wonderful. I remember especially the early 1980s when she was the den mother to a motley crew of young libertarian activists and intellectuals then descending upon Washington, D.C.

* Smith tells an interesting story about Ed Crane: “In fact, it is often forgotten that he was one of the original plaintiffs in the landmark campaign finance case, Buckley v. Valeo (he often expressed, with his typical sarcasm, his disappointment that the case had not been captioned Crane v. Valeo.)”

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