On The Record (07-14-26).

This week we read the federal budget the way it’s meant to be read: as a moral document. What it shows is individuals paying more, corporations getting refunds, classrooms getting gutted, and the pentagon getting fed, all while the deficit stays exactly where it always was. The “fiscally responsible” costume is just that. Then we looked at the strategic petroleum reserve, which is sitting at 1983 levels after nearly 100 million barrels drawn down since the Iran war began—and with China about to reenter the market and the strait still choked off, the traders who’ve been keeping oil prices contained are running out of room.