Political Commentary & Opinion

Congress is back at it with a last-minute, massive spending bill that no one will have time to read. Late Wednesday night, House and Senate negotiators released text of a nearly 1,200-page omnibus spending bill that does nothing to reduce wasteful spending and is a letdown for America’s taxpayers. >>> Read Heritage Foundation President Kay…

It’s easy enough to get discouraged if you focus on this or that misstep by the U.S. or Canadian government, or on the occasionally strained relationship between the two neighbors. But the truth of the matter is that our two countries remain very close trading partners—and both remain beacons of freedom and progress in a…

Wow. $22 trillion. Let that huge number sink in. It’s the gross national debt reported Monday by the Treasury Department. The question is, now that we have crossed this inauspicious threshold, will Congress finally get serious about changing the nation’s budget course? For years, the Congressional Budget Office has warned that America’s growing debt is…

The left-leaning media would have you believe that the 2017 tax cuts were nothing of the sort. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., recently tweeted that average refunds are down, calling the president’s tax cut a “middle-class tax hike.” This is simply the latest episode in a long-running campaign to demagogue tax cuts that let the vast…

It would be easy to dismiss the Green New Deal as an impossible progressive dream, but that would be a mistake. The Green New Deal is not the bucket list of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her fellow travelers, but a blueprint to turn America into a socialist state. It is the culmination of a 90-year…

Before legislation passes either the House or the Senate, lawmakers should know how much it costs. That would seem to go without saying. But lawmakers consistently overlook one key cost: the new interest payments their spending will create.   Say you’re wanting to buy a $20,000 car but don’t have $20,000 in cash to pay…

Ten states and Washington, D.C., have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Twenty-two other states, along with U.S. territories Puerto Rico and Guam, allow marijuana to be used for medical purposes. Let’s examine some hidden issues about marijuana use. Before we start, permit me to state my values about medical or recreational use of any…

Over the past 40 years, the federal government has shut down 21 times due to political disagreements over funding. Most of America, including the government itself, goes largely unaffected by a government shutdown. But for federal workers who are furloughed or required to work without a paycheck, a lapse in government funding can cause financial…

One year ago Thursday, the horrific school shooting in Parkland, Florida, sparked an intense national debate over firearm-related violence. As some pushed for broader restrictions on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, The Heritage Foundation has undertaken the task of evaluating the complex, underlying realities of gun violence, including its relationship to untreated serious…

George Washington was lauded as “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen,” in the words of Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee. But even our nation’s first president couldn’t prevail over the desire for a three-day weekend. Washington’s birthday, which falls on Feb. 22, was celebrated for decades on…

In his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump announced, “All Americans can be proud that we have more women in the workforce than ever before.” It was one of the few times he received a standing ovation from both Democrats and Republicans. I would not have stood and cheered. Either the president or…