There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse! As I have often found in travelling in a stagecoach, that it is often a comfort to shift one’s position, and be bruised in a new place.
Washington Irving, Tales of a Traveler (1824), Preface, p. 7.
On December 15, 1791, the United States’ Bill of Rights became constitutional law when ratified by the Virginia General Assembly.
On December 15 in 1933, the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution officially became effective, repealing the Eighteenth Amendment that had, by enabling the Volstead Act, prohibited the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol for any other than medical and industrial uses.
December 15 birthdays include that of Pehr Evind Svinhufvud af Qvalstad, 1861, first Head of State of independent Finland, serving in this capacity first as leader of the Senate and then as Protector, or Regent. In 1930 he became Prime Minister, and in 1931 was elected President, leaving office in 1937.
During the Civil War of 1918, his anti-socialist refugee government, Valkoiset, or “Whites,” opposed the “Reds,” a Social Democrat Party faction, for control of the government as it transitioned from Russian rule as a Grand Duchy, to independent status.
He died in 1944.
The U.S. federal budget landscape in late 2025 remains tense, as we say, with looming deadlines and partisan clashes over spending, taxes, and entitlements. On December 10, 2025, Chairman Jodey Arrington of the House Budget Committee praised the Federal Reserve’s decision to cut rates, citing it as relief for families amid inflation pressures. The FOMC statement noted inflation remains “somewhat elevated” but affirmed commitment to maximum employment.
If you are (a) wondering what sense any of that makes, and (b) overcome with a nauseating sense of déjà vu, welcome to the club.
The Boom & Bust Club, that is, where insiders pretend they’re in control and outsiders like us just hope to shore up a big against the ruin.
On the 6th, Trump signed a $12 billion farmer aid executive order, aimed at countering “unfair” trade impacts; it bridged gaps for farmers until full budget reconciliation.
Meanwhile, thr Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act (H.R. 1968) is in play to avert shutdowns, but reconciliation battles persist. Congressional Budget Office projections warn economic shifts could widen deficits through 2035.
Man is an animal that diddles, and there is no animal that diddles but man.
Edgar Allan Poe, “Diddling Considered as One of the Exact Sciences,” The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe, Vol. IV: The Raven Edition.
On December 14, 1918, Friedrich Karl von Hessen, a German prince elected by the Parliament of Finland to become King Väinö I, renounced the Finnish throne.
In 1939, on this date, the Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations for invading Finland and starting the Winter War.
On December 14, 1819, Alabama became the 22nd state of these United States.
“Today we are building on the work of the last several years and strengthening Minnesota’s defenses against fraud,” the state’s governor, Tim Walz, said yesterday. “If you commit fraud in Minnesota, you will be caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
This is mostly spin, of course. There is not much “building” on recent work happening in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes. It is more like the opposite. The “recent work” was done far from the Walz orbit, work in the Archdiocese of St. Paul by the FBI — not anything to do with Somali-immigrant fraud networks recently revealed through no merit of Tim Walz or his administration.
Which is why Walz must now appear to lead the dance. The Epoch Times reports that Walz has appointed as “the state’s director of program integrity” — you might call it his “Fraud Czar” — one Tim O’Malley, the FBI agent who had worked on the Archdiocese fraud.
But maybe the cleverest part is his name. A Tim appointed a Tim.
Walz also makes much of a new “partnership with WayPoint Inc., a Minnesota firm made up of former law enforcement and federal agents focused on forensic accounting and investigations. They will develop a comprehensive fraud-prevention strategy for the state.”
Or so it is spun.
Paul Jacob wrote about the underlying fraud scandal on December First, in “Red-Flagged Welfare Fraud.”
Language gradually varies, and with it fade away the writings of authors who have flourished their allotted time; otherwise, the creative powers of genius would overstock the world, and the mind would be completely bewildered in the endless mazes of literature.
Washington Irving, “The Mutabilities of Literature” in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (1819 – 20).
On December 13, 1577, Sir Francis Drake set sail from Plymouth, England, on his round-the-world voyage.
In 1623 on this date, the Plymouth Colony in North America established a system of trial by 12-men jury.
On December 13, 1972, astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt began the third and final extra-vehicular activity (EVA) or “Moonwalk” of Apollo 17. To this date in 2025 they remain the last humans to set foot on the Moon.
That’s the world according to Robert Kiyosaki, says an Epoch Times profile. “Kiyosaki described the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank — established in 1913 with a goal of stabilizing the nation’s monetary supply following years of extreme volatility, and preventing panic — as a Marxist organization,” Travis Gillmore writes.
“When the Fed came to America, it was the end of America,” states Kiyosaki, who co-authored a bestselling investment book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, in 1997, “and our freedom is being stolen via our money.”
This is a familiar theme. Attacking crony capitalism as a massive swindle, and central banking as the lynchpin of bad government practices and general exploitation, that’s so basic to my view of “political economy” that I hardly bring it up anymore. It’s just so obvious.
But is our central bank communist?
If you don’t like “communist” or “socialist” you can add the suffix ‑ic: communistic or socialistic.
“As most people know, there’s a big movement to end the Federal Reserve Bank, because it’s not federal, it’s not a reserve, and it’s not a bank,” adds Kiyosaki.
“U.S. currency was once tradeable for silver or gold,” Gillmore’s article summarizes. “The Federal Reserve notes in circulation today, however, carry no guarantees, which results in significantly devalued currency.…
“Marxists want to destabilize society by ‘taking the currency,’ Kiyosaki said,” blaming this kleptocracy for the rising tide of homelessness along with other maladies.
The Epoch Times ends on a hopeful note, but does not quote recent tweets by Kiyosaki, warning us that the “biggest crash in history” is underway, predicting millions would “lose everything” while prepared investors (like himself) get richer.
All very familiar?
Sure.
But that does not mean there is no truth in it.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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On December 12, 1787, Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
On the same date in 1870, Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina became the first former slave elected to serve in the United States House of Representatives. His father had emancipated him as a child, and he had worked as a barber before the Civil War.