Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government-backed housing corporations bailed out seven years ago by federal taxpayers, may be headed for trouble again. Despite post-financial crisis pressure to reform, neither Fannie nor Freddie has done much to mitigate the risk to the American taxpayer inherent in government backing for these institutions. In fact, it…
A new lot of emails released by the State Department on Halloween were so newsworthy that not even the holiday could drown it out. It turns out, three days after the Benghazi attack, on Sept. 14, 2012, the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli specifically warned the State Department in an email not to promote the idea…
The Senate has passed a Congressional Review Act disapproval resolution to repeal the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s and Army Corp of Engineers’ water rule that would seek to regulate almost every water “body” in the nation. The vote was 53-44. The House needs to follow suit. The Congressional Review Act creates an expedited process for…
In U.S. Arctic policy, President Barack Obama has focused on climate change. He also officially changed the name of Mt. McKinley to Denali, a decision the administration is touting as one of its Arctic accomplishments. Yet while the Obama administration views America’s Arctic territory as little more than a location for rubber-stamping its climate agenda,…
This week, the White House announced a pending executive order instructing the Office of Personnel Management to “delay inquiries into criminal history until later in the hiring process.” This delay, known as “banning the box,” eliminates asking an applicant if he or she has a criminal record. The federal government certainly has good reasons to…
Kim Davis confounded the pollsters and propelled an underdog candidate, Matt Bevin, to victory in the Kentucky governor’s race. Nearly two-thirds of voters in Ohio rejected marijuana. And citizens in Houston vetoed their city council and rejected a bad policy on sexual orientation and gender identity. Conventional wisdom is that social liberalism is an electoral…
The U.S. Department of Education has released its “College Scorecard,” a searchable college-affordability database that President Obama described as containing “reliable data on every institution of higher education.” Unfortunately, that simply isn’t true. I can say so as a president of a college excluded from the scorecard. This scorecard generally poses risks to institutional autonomy and…
Winston Churchill wrote as much as he acted, and he wrote about every action. His books number more than fifty. His speeches, written almost exclusively by him, take up more than eight thousand crowded pages in a series of books that only purports to be exhaustive. His articles are almost numberless, and his memos and letters…
How long does it take a single pipeline to be made? Thanks to the Obama administration, it apparently will take more than 7 years. In a move to pre-empt the State Department’s rejection of TransCanada’s permit application to build the Keystone XL, TransCanada has sent a letter to the State Department asking the agency to…
Uncle Sam isn’t going to let schools place certain restrictions on how transgender students use a single-sex locker room. A school district near Chicago, Palatine 211, provides numerous accommodations for transgender students. The district calls the students by requested names, honors selected gender (including allowing them to play on the sports teams of the gender…
Congress appears to be stepping up to the plate to kill the Environmental Protection Agency’s and Army Corps of Engineers’ water rule (known as the “waters of the United States” or WOTUS rule). Lawmakers just need to bring it home by sending legislation to the president. In doing so, Congress will be protecting Americans from environmental regulatory…
There have been 74 Islamist terror plots or attacks against the U.S. homeland since 9/11, with more plots in 2015 than any other year since 2001. For example: July 4, 2015. Alexander Ciccolo had plans to use pressure-cooker bombs, Molotov cocktails, and firearms to attack a college or college bar. He had purchased pressure cookers…
In the latest video from PragerU, Fox News host and bestselling author Greg Gutfeld says conservative principles are more common than you think in professions sometimes identified with liberals—music, exercise, and cooking. “If liberals applied their no-score, no-winner, no-loser belief system to their hobbies and professions, they would fail miserably,” says Gutfeld, author of “How…
Airbnb has made headlines for reportedly spending a whopping $8 million to defeat a San Francisco proposition to restrict short-term rentals. This translates into roughly $40 per voter of advertising from Airbnb alone, not including supporting tech lobbies. Much of the animosity toward Airbnb began in San Francisco’s Mission District, where I happen to live….
Last June, Turkey held a general election, but no single party won enough seats within the legislature to form a single ruling party. After a few months of trying, it was clear that no coalition government could be formed, either. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was therefore forced to call another election, in line with parliamentary practice…
The number of Chinese billionaires has increased by almost 70 percent in the past year, according to figures in the 2015 “Hurun Rich List,” an annual report released by the Hurun Research Institute. Last year’s report indicated that China had 354 billionaires. This year’s report found there are now 596 Chinese billionaires. China has now…
It is difficult to see how a U.S. envoy to Paris for the climate deal will convince the United Nations that Americans support President Obama’s promise to cut carbon dioxide emissions. The cornerstone of Obama’s promise to the U.N. is called the “Clean Power Plan.” Developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the plan is a…
At its height, Hollywood perfected the art of storytelling for television and the world was better for it. Writers spent years honing their craft to help produce programs and entertainment that would stand the test of time. These writers wove together stories, characters, and dialogue that reflected our own experiences and at the same time…
So you're an art connoisseur who likes the works of Gilbert Stuart, the early American artist famous for his portraits of George Washington. Someone wants to sell you an original Stuart portrait of Washington he claims he found in someone's attic. It looks good enough—old canvas, faded oils, facial resemblance—but there is one little problem….
It can’t be overstated: Our current fiscal track is unsustainable and our ways of repairing it are inadequate. Or in the words of new House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., “the process stinks.” The Senate Budget Committee held a hearing this week on reforming the budget process and exploring ways to avoid the looming financial crisis….