Iran Tanker Strikes, Moscow Talks, and Flock's Revolt

Good morning, it's Sunday, Sept 6. U.S. forces struck three Iranian oil tankers after Iran fired missiles at American warships — as diesel prices hit an all-time high.

Also in today's issue: Trump's $10M Texas bet, Moscow talks resume, Data centers go political, Flock cameras face backlash.

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If you filled up your tank this week, you already felt it. Diesel hit an all-time record of $5.85 a gallon on Wednesday. Gasoline averaged $4.15 — up from $2.98 before the war with Iran began six months ago. And on Friday, the situation driving those prices got significantly worse.

U.S. forces struck three Iranian oil tankers after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — the branch of Iran's military that operates outside its regular armed forces — fired ballistic missiles at a U.S. aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer in the Persian Gulf. No American personnel were harmed. U.S. Central Command said it permanently disabled two tankers near Iran's coast and destroyed a third in the Gulf of Oman after directing its crew to abandon ship. Admiral Brad Cooper, the CENTCOM commander, warned the U.S. would "if necessary, destroy Iran's limited and exposed oil fleet."

Here's where the costs land. In North Carolina, farmer Derrick Austin told AFP the diesel surge could add $15,000 to his fall harvest costs alone. That's one farmer, one season. Multiply that across American agriculture, trucking, and shipping — industries that run on diesel — and the ripple hits grocery prices, heating bills, and delivery costs before winter arrives. Diesel powers the trucks that stock shelves, the equipment that harvests crops, and the generators that keep rural communities running. It has climbed from $3.70 a year ago. Gasoline is up more than a dollar since the war began. Every week this conflict continues, the bill for ordinary Americans gets heavier.

Now look at the politics. One day before these strikes, President Trump called the six-month war — which has cost taxpayers more than $37.5 billion and killed 18 U.S. service members — "small potatoes" and "not a big thing." That is a striking choice of words for a conflict that is reshaping energy prices, stretching military resources, and now drawing direct fire on Navy warships.

Here's the thing: reasonable people can disagree about whether Friday's response was the right call. Iran shot first. The military had both the authority and the operational reason to strike back. Defending American ships at sea is not controversial — it is expected. The harder question is what comes next. And on that front, the political class has been remarkably quiet.

This is not a partisan complaint. Several Republican senators have pressed the White House for a clearer endgame. Democrats have demanded a formal vote on war authorization — the constitutional process that gives Congress a say in whether a military operation continues. A war this expensive, this long, and this consequential for American pocketbooks deserves a strategy the public can evaluate. So far, neither branch of government has offered one.

Iran's parliament speaker responded Friday with a threat of a "more intense and more painful response." If that means another round of missiles, attacks on shipping lanes, or strikes on oil infrastructure, prices at the pump are not going down. They are going up. And a White House that publicly treats a $37.5 billion war as a minor matter does not inspire confidence that there is a clear plan to bring this to a close.

This conflict has now cost more than the first two years of the Afghanistan war, adjusted for inflation. Whether you supported the original strikes against Iran or opposed them, the question voters are asking is not about who started it. It is about what the plan is to finish it.

Watch the next few days closely. If Iran retaliates against shipping in the Strait of Hormuz — roughly 20% of the world's oil passes through that narrow waterway every day — fuel prices could spike further just weeks before the midterms. If there is restraint, the diplomatic window stays open but keeps narrowing. Either way, the cost of this war is no longer something happening over there. It is on every receipt at every gas station in the country.

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MAGA Inc. drops $10 million on the Texas Senate race — the super PAC's first major midterm general-election spending. The buy backs Republican nominee Ken Paxton, who won the GOP primary with Trump's endorsement despite a history of legal troubles, against Democrat James Talarico, a 37-year-old state representative. The seat has not gone Democratic since 1993. MAGA Inc. holds at least $400 million in campaign funds. Trump told reporters Friday, "This is my money," and hinted he could save some for 2028. The ads target Talarico on taxes, but the spending itself tells the bigger story: public disapproval of Trump over the economy and the Iran war has made once-safe Republican seats competitive enough to require a $10 million rescue.

Witkoff and Kushner met Putin in Moscow on Friday for more than three hours of talks aimed at restarting stalled Ukraine peace negotiations. Both Russia and Ukraine agreed to pause strikes on each other's capitals during the visit — a small but meaningful step for civilians in Kyiv and Moscow. A Kremlin aide called the talks "highly useful" but gave no sign of a breakthrough. The envoys plan to visit Kyiv on Sunday. It is their first known trip to Moscow since January. The Ukraine peace process had been largely frozen for eight months as U.S. diplomatic attention shifted to the Iran war — a concrete reminder that one conflict's costs can ripple across an entirely separate one. The war in Ukraine is now in its fifth year.

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Data center ads top $45 million in 2026 midterm races, according to an NPR analysis published Friday. Spending is nearly identical across parties — over $22 million backing Republicans, more than $21 million for Democrats — though Democrats ran nearly twice as many individual ads across more states. An internal Republican Senate campaign memo obtained by NPR called data centers a "sleeper issue for the entire election cycle." A June Reuters/Ipsos poll found 77% of Americans concerned about data centers raising their electricity costs. The fight is loudest in Georgia, where $12.8 million in data-center-related ads have aired, and Ohio, where Democrats have tied Republican Sen. Jon Husted to rising electric bills. The issue sits at the intersection of two things voters care about most: technology and the cost of living.

AI surveillance cameras face a bipartisan revolt. Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced plans this week to revoke permits for Flock's license plate readers on state highways. Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott froze state spending on the cameras. Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro called for a statewide ban. And Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, said he will introduce federal legislation to "stop Flock and AI mass surveillance." The cameras capture billions of license plates per month. Progressives warn they are used to track immigrants and people seeking abortions. Conservatives warn the technology could enable a national gun registry. A 2024 California police analysis found Flock misread plates in 71% of alerts sent to officers — a detail that gives both sides of the aisle reason to worry.

That is what American taxpayers have spent on the Iran war in six months, according to the AP — as of the day the president called it "small potatoes." For context, that works out to roughly $280 per household.

P.S. Is the Iran war worth the cost at the pump? Hit Reply — one word is enough.