Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
President Barack Obama has announced another brazen, illegal executive action. As Americans gathered with loved ones to wish each other a more prosperous new year, the president issued an edict to put that longed-for prosperity farther out of reach. President Barack Obama has announced another brazen, illegal executive action. In a proposed federal rule published…
Employees in Puerto Rico take home a smaller share of income than anywhere else in the U.S. But is this despite or because of the many regulations the Puerto Rican government uses to tilt the economic scale in favor of workers? The island’s government leans to the left and has done all it can to…
The past few weeks have been a remarkable time in environmental politics. Green groups have joined President Barack Obama in celebrating the global climate agreement reached in Paris, even though U.S. officials say none of the carbon reductions in the Dec. 12 deal are binding. Remember, environmental groups have been campaigning for decades to drag the United…
Looking for a good book to start the new year? We've put together a list of recommendations by Heritage Foundation experts that will give you plenty of interesting reading options for 2016. History 1) "Hamilton versus Jefferson in the Washington Administration: Completing the Founding or Betraying the Founding?" by Carson Holloway Carson Holloway's study of the constitutional and political clashes of…
North Korea announced Wednesday that its most senior official in charge of inter-Korean relations died in a car accident. Kim Yang-gon was head of the United Front Department of the ruling Korea Workers’ Party, a member of the North Korean Central Committee and alternate member of the Politburo. He had most recently negotiated with senior South…
Seven years after the housing market collapse, the housing market continued a lopsided recovery in 2015. Overall, the housing market was stalled by a combination of meddling from the federal government and the continued weaknesses in the broader economy and labor market. Those select housing markets showing strength did so mostly in terms of house…
Recently the Russian strategic missile forces’ commander Col. Gen. Sergei Karakayev said Russia’s new missiles will have the capability to neutralize any future U.S. missile defense system. For now, Karakayev is right—not because the missiles are invincible, but because the Obama administration is deliberately limiting the United States’ ballistic missile defense program. The Obama administration…
There are an estimated 75.3 million Millennials—those ranging from ages 18 to 34—living in the United States today. With the Millennial generation making up 23 percent of the American public, it is important to understand how Millennials view American foreign policy, and if this is different from how other generations view our role in the world….
It’s been reported by the Wall Street Journal that the Obama administration has continued spying on several close American allies, and in particular on Israel. The news of American spying on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is significant because it gives the appearance of—if not demonstrates—use of U.S. intelligence by the Obama White House for political…
One of the largest and most significant civil forfeiture programs has just been suspended and possibly ended. Last week, the Justice Department announced that it is temporarily suspending payouts under the federal “equitable sharing” program. That initiative encouraged state and local law enforcement agencies to bypass restrictive state forfeiture laws by allowing them to transfer…
Almost a year ago, I stood next to my wife Bonnie, put my hand on my Father’s Bible, and swore to uphold the Constitution and represent the people of Georgia in the United States Senate. This is a role I never imagined, but one I take very seriously. To emphasize the magnitude of this responsibility,…
Since the Department of Education was founded in 1979, the federal government has been increasingly involved in public education. The newest encroachment by the federal government into education comes with the arrival of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) laws. The Department of Education has unilaterally decided that “sex” in Title IX (a federal law…
The Washington Post editorial board has long considered itself the “adult in the room” on fiscal matters, all but endorsing the Simpson-Bowles plan and other trendy fiscal proposals. It also allied itself with respectable centrist groups like the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget in calling out Congress for engaging in budget gimmicks to hide its spending…
Located in central Africa, the small nation of Burundi is on the brink of civil war once again. In April, current President Pierre Nkurunziza announced that he would run for a third term, a decision denounced by the opposition as a violation of the nation’s constitution. His subsequent election in July was widely criticized by…
2015 was a rough year for American law enforcement. There has been a seemingly unending chorus of anti-police protests, accentuated by inflammatory and often dangerous rhetoric, which has inspired a hostility toward law enforcement that’s not been seen in decades. While some might now think this is because corruption is endemic to law enforcement, the…
South Korea and Japan reached a landmark agreement Monday to settle long-standing divisive issues resulting from Japan’s 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula. The most emotional and complex topic was that of women forced into sexual slavery, euphemistically known as “comfort women.” Japan had asserted that the issue, included compensation, had been settled during the 1965…
One hundred and fifty years ago this month, the 13th Amendment officially was ratified, and with it, slavery finally was abolished in America. The New York World hailed it as “one of the most important reforms ever accomplished by voluntary human agency.” The newspaper said the amendment “takes out of politics, and consigns to history, an institution…
A forest fire on national parkland in Washington state in 2014 overtook a young black bear, seriously burning its front paws. This little bear, which would gain world renown, crawled on its elbows out of the massive Carlton Complex fire on land managed by the U.S. Forest Service. Later named Cinder, the malnourished and horribly…
Call any journalist, pundit, anchor, strategist or lobbyist and ask: 1. How many illegal immigrants are in the United States? 2. What is your source for that number? Almost without exception he or she will answer: 1. 11 million. 2. The Pew Research Center. For a decade now, no number has been given greater certitude and less…