August 24, 2026 - Iran's Rial Currency Hits Record Low

Independent line… hello!

Today through Thursday, C-SPAN is simulcasting my SiriusXM radio program. Please tune in between 9am and noon ET. I’ve always enjoyed my C-SPAN interactions, many of them hosted by Steve Scully, who I’m now proud to call my POTUS colleague.

C-SPAN has been on for nearly half a century. It began with four employees and a feed from the House floor, on a premise that sounded naive: show Americans their government, unedited, and trust them to reach their own conclusions. The first words it ever carried were a one-minute speech by a young congressman named Al Gore.

Brian Lamb built it on principles that have only grown rarer. No commercials. No shouting. No government money — the cable industry pays for it. Just a camera, a gavel, and the unglamorous work of self-government.

But here’s another reason C-SPAN matters to me. Call it my personal sunshine rule: anywhere you and I could walk through a door, pull up a chair, and watch the people’s business being conducted, a camera belongs. The school board. The zoning hearing. The courtroom. Congress. And yes, the Supreme Court, which still decides the nation’s biggest questions in a room almost no American will ever see. A right to attend that expires at the parking lot isn’t much of a right. C-SPAN has spent nearly 50 years proving the sky doesn’t fall when the camera stays on.

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Iran’s rial currency has plunged to a record low as the U.S. prepares to impose sweeping new sanctions, adding to the economic pressure on Tehran amid the ongoing war and tensions over the Strait of Hormuz.

Associated Press

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NBC News

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The Hill

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The Washington Post

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CBC

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ESPN

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ABC News

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Axios

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The Economist

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CBS News