Strait Talk
Plus: Mamdani vs. self-driving cars, blue state wealth and exit taxes, Hillary Clinton's awful affordability agenda, and more...
Getting the story strait. Earlier this week, President Donald Trump said that a two-week ceasefire in the war in Iran was predicated on Iran fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global energy markets.
So is Iran complying? Is the Strait of Hormuz actually open for transit? Here is what's being reported.
Hundreds of tanker ships are apparently waiting to cross through the strait, but the ships are unsure if they will be able to do so without being attacked, according to The New York Times. The Times also reports that only five vessels passed through the strait on Wednesday, which is down from the 10-vessel average over the previous five days.
Separately, The Wall Street Journal reports that Iran, which mined the strait during the war, has told conflict negotiators that it intends to "limit the number of ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz to around a dozen a day and charge tolls." But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is denying reports that the strait is closed, and said that the U.S. will honor the ceasefire so long as it's open with no limitations.
The exact state of affairs surrounding the strait, and whether it's truly open or not, and if so under what conditions, remains uncertain as of this writing. They're going to have to rename it the Strait of Schrödinger.
Meanwhile, Trump is on TruthSocial posting about NATO, and the official White House X account is reposting his words:
"NATO WASN'T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON'T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN. REMEMBER GREENLAND, THAT BIG, POORLY RUN, PIECE OF ICE!!!" - President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/xgEV8P1n4n
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 8, 2026
Voice and exit taxes. Blue states are pushing wealth taxes—and exit taxes. The progressive left faction of the Democratic Party has been talking about wealth taxes in various forms for a decade or so. The problem with those taxes is that most evidence suggests they don't work very well, at least not if the goal is actually to raise revenue. Just look at what has happened in Europe: Most countries that have implemented wealth taxes of some sort have repealed them. They can be hard to implement, since they tax difficult-to-value items like art and property. And even more importantly, they tend to result in capital flight. Wealthy people, who by definition have means and options, simply leave.
Some blue states seem to think they can mitigate this effect through tax targeting. California's proposed wealth tax would be enacted retroactively, if it goes into effect. Elsewhere, Democrats have raised the idea of exit taxes in an attempt to prevent capital flight. A KOMOnews report says that "across the country, at least ten states are now exploring or have already passed an exit or wealth tax in order to combat revenue losses from residents fleeing to lower tax areas."
No state has passed an exit tax, yet. But California did at one point consider a kind of tax that would have affected former residents for up to 10 years after leaving the state, though it did not become law.
Some Democrats are taking this idea national. Last month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D–Mass.), among the most prominent and persistent advocates of wealth taxes, highlighted her proposed 2 percent tax on all households worth more than $50 million, plus an additional 1 percent tax on billionaires. Her plan also proposes a 40 (!) percent exit tax on anyone worth more than $50 million who renounces their U.S. citizenship.
Exit taxes haven't been meaningfully tested in court, but I have serious doubts about their legality, especially at the state level.
It almost certainly isn't. Article IV, s 2 of the constitution guarantees the citizens of each state the right to enjoy the privileges and immunities of citizens of other states when in those other states. That has long been thought to imply the right to travel to the other… https://t.co/kLsuevtBr8
— Ilan Wurman (@ilan_wurman) April 8, 2026
Scenes from Washington, D.C. There's an old abandoned Six Flags property in Prince George's County, just outside the District, that closed last year. Now basketball star Kevin Durant and a group of investors plan to buy the 500-acre property and turn it into entertainment and housing.
QUICK HITS
- New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has halted New York's Waymo rollout.
Congrats to NYC Mayor on yet another push to harm the majority in the interest of protecting a minority interest group
Waymo rollout in NYC has been stopped https://t.co/xlzn9eUtdo pic.twitter.com/lesGanv0zV
— Sar Haribhakti (@sarthakgh) April 7, 2026
- New Ohio legislation would restrict online gambling.
- Studies keep showing that so-called "luxury" housing (which is often just market-rate housing) pushes housing costs down across the board.
We got another new study confirming that new "luxury" housing pushes down prices for lower-end units. https://t.co/EiuRx32emA pic.twitter.com/WTd4VJm9AX
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) April 9, 2026
- The White House ballroom renovation will use foreign steel.
- Tax credits (subsidies), government-sponsored leave, and more subsidies: Hillary Clinton outlines a predictably expensive and poorly designed agenda that she claims will address affordability for families. Isn't layers of programs and subsidies and regulations how we got here in the first place?
- New Yorkers are arguing about where dogs do and don't belong in the city. I've never had a dog in New York City, but one of the many things I enjoy about my neighborhood in D.C. is just how many dogs there are. There's a local dog park that's maintained with private donations and even a local brewery that's dog-friendly so you can have a pint with your pup. Urban dogs are great!
- Avatar: Fire and Ash made $1.4 billion at the global box office. But its predecessor, Avatar: The Way of Water, made more than $2 billion. So director James Cameron and his producers are looking to reduce production costs for the two planned sequels. They also want to make these films, which have run about three hours each, shorter.
