Ian WelshWeek-end Wrap – Political Economy – April 19, 2026
by Tony Wikrent
War
House rejects resolution to end U.S. war with Iran by one vote
[Drop Site News, April 17, 2026]
The Republican-controlled House voted 213–214 on Thursday to defeat a resolution directing President Donald Trump to withdraw U.S. armed forces from hostilities against Iran, one day after the Senate rejected a similar measure 52–47. Only one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.), broke with his party to support the measure. One Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden (Maine) voted against it; Rep. Warren Davidson (Ohio), who had previously voted to end the war, voted present. The resolution, introduced by Rep. Gregory Meeks (N.Y.), would have required congressional authorization to continue military operations under the War Powers Resolution.
The Iran war’s fertilizer shock is hammering American farmers, and 70% can’t afford what they need for this year’s growing season
[Fortune, via Naked Capitalism 04-17-2025]
Top oil companies pocketed $30 million per hour in war profits during first month of Iran conflict
[Drop Site News, April 16, 2026]
The world’s top 100 oil and gas companies earned more than $30 million every hour in windfall profits during the first month of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, generating an estimated $23 billion in excess earnings in March alone as oil averaged $100 a barrel, according to analysis by Global Witness using Rystad Energy data reported exclusively by the Guardian. Saudi Aramco stands to make an estimated $25.5 billion in war profits in 2026 if the $100 price holds, while ExxonMobil is on track for $11 billion, Chevron $9.2 billion, and Shell $6.8 billion—with three Russian state-linked companies, Gazprom, Rosneft, and Lukoil, projected to collect a combined $23.9 billion, boosting Vladimir Putin’s war chest for the conflict in Ukraine.
Iran used Chinese satellite to monitor and target U.S. bases, leaked documents show
[Drop Site News, April 16, 2026]
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force acquired a Chinese spy satellite in late 2024 that it used to monitor and help target U.S. military bases across the Middle East during the war, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing leaked Iranian military documents confirmed by Fox News. The IRGC purchased the TEE-01B satellite from Chinese company Earth Eye Co for roughly $36.6 million, paid in renminbi, according to the report. Time-stamped coordinate lists, satellite imagery, and orbital analysis show Iranian commanders used the satellite to surveil Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on March 13, 14, and 15—the same days President Donald Trump confirmed U.S. aircraft at the base had been struck—as well as Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, the U.S. Fifth Fleet naval base in Bahrain, and Erbil airport in Iraq around the time of IRGC-claimed strikes on those facilities. China’s Foreign Ministry denied the report, calling it “not true.”
How Much Has the War in Iran Depleted the U.S. Missile Supply?
Garrett M. Graff, April 14, 2026
Trump not violating any law
‘He who saves his Country does not violate any Law’
Trump Stuns By Saying ‘I Don’t Know’ When Asked Directly NBC’s Kristen Welker ‘Don’t You Need to Uphold the Constitution?’
Joe DePaolo, May 4th, 2025
Caught in the Crackdown: As Arrests at Anti-ICE Protests Piled Up, Prosecutions Crumbled
A.C. Thompson [ProPublica] and FRONTLINE, and Gabrielle Schonder [FRONTLINE], April 14, 2026
Protesters Detained: ProPublica and FRONTLINE found more than 300 people who were arrested during immigration sweeps and accused of crimes like assaulting or interfering with law enforcement.
Cases Collapse Under Scrutiny: Over and over, cases against protesters fell apart, often because statements made by the arresting officers were debunked by video footage.
Chilling Effect: Experts said arrests, even without convictions, can quash dissent. “I don’t want to be assaulted again. I don’t want to wind up back in federal prison,” a protester said.
DOJ fires US immigration judges who ruled for pro-Palestine activists
[Jurist News, via Naked Capitalism 04-16-2025]
Luigi-Inspired Arsonist Threatened “Our Way of Life,” Feds Say
Ken Klippenstein [via Naked Capitalism 04-15-2025]
Oligarchy
The Shocking Secrets of Madison Square Garden’s Surveillance Machine
[Wired, via The Big Picture, April 18, 2026]
Famously vengeful Knicks owner Jim Dolan has long spied on people at his iconic arenas. He has turned MSG into one of the most aggressive private facial-recognition operations in the country, using it to ban critics and lawyers at the door. Private-sector dystopia that most fans never see coming.
[TW: As the classic thinkers of civic republicanism warned, the morbidly rich suffer extreme psychological damage because they lose the capacity for self-discipline, destroying any basis for one of the key components of civic virtue. This happens because the morbidly rich can afford to surround themselves with sycophants who are unwilling to call out the excesses the morbidly rich indulge in. This is why Locke’s concept of venerating private property must be forcefully opposed by the civic republican principles of General Welfare and the civic virtue of subordinating private interest to the public good. The preservation of a republic requires that the absence of civic virtue among the most powerful, the morbidly rich, must be countered by the extension of the Constitutional guarantees of individual liberty to the states (which conservatives and the (anti)Republican Party have been and are now contesting), AND private actors such as corporations and the morbidly rich.]
Billionaire Adelson Pours $40 Million To Back GOP—Soros Gives $50 Million To His Democrat PAC
[Forbes, via Naked Capitalism 04-17-2025]
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