Political Commentary & Opinion

Today, on March 16, the debt limit returned at $18.1 trillion in total national debt. The largest share of this debt—$13 trillion—comes out to $41,000 for every individual living in the U.S. today. This debt is called the public debt, which means that the government has sold this debt in credit markets to investors in…

Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram, formally pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in an audio recording posted to Boko Haram’s Twitter account on March 7. “We announce our allegiance to the caliph… and will hear and obey in times of difficulty and prosperity,” declared the Boko Haram leader. Boko Haram previously talked of…

It’s March 16, 2015, and it is the day the debt limit returns—with a vengeance. Since Congress suspended the debt limit for more than a year last February, the debt subject to the limit has grown by nearly $1 trillion, from $17.2 trillion to more than $18.1 trillion. A $900 billion increase in the national…

There’s a reason the words “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help” are a punchline. Government involvement rarely helps. In many instances, in fact, it exacerbates the situation. We’ve seen it happen in the financial sector. The Dodd-Frank legislation that was supposed to prevent another crisis is instead mandating regulations that simply make…

Libertarian populism has lately been generating a great deal of attention on the Right. Many believe it represents a viable reform agenda for the GOP. Dave Brat’s victory over Eric Cantor in June lent credibility to this notion. As the title of libertarian populist Conn Carroll’s post at Townhall unequivocally declared, “Dave Brat Proves Libertarian…

Editor’s note: Since this article was originally published, Gov. Scott Walker signed the right-to-work law in Wisconsin. My first job as a teenager back in 1976 was working as a blue-suited Andy Frain usher at sporting events at places like Wrigley Field in Chicago. When I took the job, I was required to join the…

Potential presidential candidates looking to make a splash should consider the following bold proposal to solve our inequality problem once and for all: exile the top 0.1 percent of income earners. Round up all 136,080 taxpayers who make more than $2.16 million a year and ship ’em off to whatever country will accept them. Presto. Problem solved….

Victor Hugo, author of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” famously said “All the forces in the world are not so powerful as an idea whose time has come.” Perhaps Bitcoin is just such an idea? Digital currencies are still rather new, so it’s hard to know for sure. But for all of their faults, they…

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker made history on Monday: His signature made Wisconsin a right-to-work state. This marks symbolic and substantive milestones. Symbolically, half the country now guarantees voluntary union dues. Substantively, Walker has helped demonstrate that right-to-work is a political asset, not a liability. Until Monday, unions could force workers to pay dues or get…

  Arthur Milikh, assistant director of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for Principles and Politics at The Heritage Foundation, explained in a column earlier this week why Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., was right when he said both the Senate and the president should sign on to treaties: In a letter written by Sen. Tom Cotton and…

A full two weeks after voting to regulate the Internet as a public utility, the Federal Communications Commission has finally revealed the text of its Open Internet Order to the American public. Weighing in at 400 pages, the decision is an immense one—but it’s  clear that the order’s impact on the Internet and the economy…

On Monday, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., joined by 46 other Republican senators, published an “open letter” to Iran and its government officials taking the position that an agreement with President Obama over Iran’s nuclear program may not be worth the paper it’s not yet printed on. Some commentators claim the letter violates the Logan Act,…