Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
Just when we thought liberalism can’t get any more authoritarian, the Obama administration reminds us that it can. Yes, that’s right. If you happen to disagree with the administration’s views of global warming, you could face a civil suit accusing you of fraud and corruption. Attorney General Loretta Lynch recently confirmed that she had “referred”…
As President Barack Obama’s term of office comes to a close, a new issue percolates in Washington: What end-of-term rules (also known as midnight regulations) will his administration produce? Given the president’s prolific executive lawmaking, will Congress be able to stop them? “The federal lawmaking process should be simple,” says Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla. “The…
Some Senate appropriators are already settling for business as usual going into the federal budget process. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., has stated that only a “clean” energy and water development appropriations bill will be considered by the subcommittee, according to a Washington Examiner article. As with many words in Washington, “clean” does not mean what…
The opening words of the preamble to the United States Constitution are familiar to us all: “We the People.” But what exactly do they mean? It was by “the People” that the Constitution was written and ratified. It is for “the People” that my colleagues and I, along with every other public official across these…
The Washington political establishment has hit the panic button. Not because they are afraid of any one individual or candidate, but because they are afraid of losing their own political power. The Washington political establishment has hit the panic button. This town is filled with well intentioned people who believe they are doing the right…
When the Reagans moved into the White House on Jan. 20, 1981, drug use, particularly among teenagers, was hovering near the highest rates ever measured. Of that year’s graduating class, 65 percent had used drugs in their lifetimes, and a remarkable 37 percent were regular drug users. After the upheaval of the 1970s, Americans had…
Under the guise of compassion and caring, the left attacks people like Barronelle Stuzman, a helpless grandmother who refused to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding from her flower shop, trying to force her to approve of that which she cannot in good conscience endorse. All the while, it claims to act in the best interest…
Last week, over the dissent of Justice Samuel Alito, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case involving a prison’s refusal to allow a Jewish man to study the Torah with others because of the prison official’s erroneous interpretation of Jewish doctrine. Israel Ben-Levi, an inmate in the Hoke Correctional Institution in North Carolina,…
Next month, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral argument in United States v. Texas, which is the legal challenge by Texas and numerous other states to the Obama administration’s “Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents” (DAPA) program. That program sought to provide amnesty for 5 million illegal…
Lee Edwards wrote earlier this week on Nancy Reagan: She was his closest and most influential adviser in matters of personnel. She was his closest and most influential adviser in matters of personnel. When she felt that someone was not serving her husband well or was putting his own interests ahead of the president’s, she pushed—sometimes…
We’ve all been there. You’re tired, you’re hungry, and something happens that sets you off. It happens to the best of us. The term for this phenomenon is “hangry”—an amalgam of hungry and angry. As a grandfather of 10, I would suggest that anyone who has spent time around a hungry toddler would agree that,…
Following the Supreme Court’s redefinition of marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has declared that it will no longer support the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) or state analogues. This is a stunning reversal, considering Religious Freedom Restoration Acts’ history. The federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act was introduced in…
In news that should shock and anger Americans, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that not only has she discussed internally the possibility of pursuing civil actions against so-called “climate change deniers,” but she has “referred it to the FBI to consider whether or not it meets the criteria…
Justin Trudeau, Canada’s new prime minister, is currently visiting Washington to deepen ties with President Barack Obama and make headway on an ambitious left-leaning agenda on a wider range of issues. From an economics perspective, the summit is basically like Trudeaunomics-meets-Obamanomics, which can double the risk of undermining Canada’s economic freedom and dynamism. Under the…
The Florida state Senate recently voted unanimously in support of a major civil forfeiture reform package. On Tuesday the Florida House of Representatives followed suit, voting 116-0 in favor of the bill. Forfeiture reform has won the full-throated support of state legislators. Now the bill heads to the desk of Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, who has…
With all the talk surrounding International Women’s Day this week, it is important to remember the many women of China. Innumerable Chinese women have been denied the right to have children, and many others have been denied the most fundamental right of all: the right to take their first breath and live. China currently has…
Millions of Americans are filing their taxes this month—and getting a good reminder of why they despise the IRS. But thanks to the Republican majority in Congress, the IRS is being forced to start cleaning up its act. When the IRS scandal broke, Congress demanded answers from the agency’s top officials. Were they targeting groups…
A judge ruled last month that two Christian organizations in Florida can continue helping newly released prisoners reintegrate into society. The Christian organizations had been brought to court by a New York-based atheist organization called the Center for Inquiry that sued to strip the ministries of government funding because of their religious identities. Because the atheist…
A minority of Missouri legislators held a much needed religious liberty proposal hostage in Jefferson City over the last two days. Democrats there filibustered for over 36 hours against SJR 39, a commonsense bill that would let Missouri citizens vote to ban government discrimination against people of faith because of their beliefs about marriage. This was the…
If Kanye West’s personal finances have you worried, take a closer look at the federal budget. When West announced in February that he was $53 million in personal debt, he took to Twitter to ask for help from his followers, specifically soliciting $1 billion from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Unfortunately, the federal government seems to…