Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
The Obama Administration has revealed “the nation’s first ever Quadrennial Energy Review” (QER)—a first ever merely because the energy plans of past Administrations were titled “National Energy Plans” or “National Energy Strategies.” Although the QER promises jobs and economic growth, the review is largely a series of recommendations to buy off states to go along…
It’s usually a lot easier to tell someone else to solve a problem than to do it yourself. A movement has sprung up on many college campuses urging schools to divest their endowment funds of any companies that produce fossil fuels. The protesters argue we must dramatically reduce the amount of fossil fuels used each…
A Supreme Court decision requiring states to redefine marriage would undermine the institution of marriage generally, as a number of scholars have shown. That’s particularly bad news for women and children from socioeconomically disadvantaged communities, according to an amicus brief filed in the pending marriage case by scholars of women’s and children’s welfare. As Traditionally…
Next week, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on same-sex marriage. In a panel this week at The Heritage Foundation, Ryan T. Anderson, a senior research fellow at Heritage, discussed why the states should be free to choose whether they recognize same-sex marriages. Anderson also talked about marriage, the Founders and Natural Law: Anderson also…
Today, the House will vote on the Protecting Cyber Networks Act (PCNA) and various amendments to it. With the ongoing threat of cyber attacks from persistent adversaries, individuals and foreign government entities alike, this bill is designed to mitigate threats, reduce vulnerabilities, and protect the nation’s information systems. The House Intelligence Committee’s PCNA is innovative…
Advocates of same-sex marriage have skillfully rallied around the rhetoric of liberty, claiming that laws defining marriage as between a man and a woman curtail the liberty of gays and lesbians. While that claim makes for nice slogans—like “freedom to marry”—it is not grounded in reality. This conclusion is persuasively established by two amicus briefs…
Federalism at the state level is more often preached than practiced. For all the invocations of the 10th Amendment, state officials tend to act as vassals of the federal government tasked with assisting in the implementation of federal policies. Federal encroachments on state powers are either eagerly embraced—46 states have adopted Common Core—or accepted with passive…
News of America’s military men and women [who] were wounded and killed in Iraq and Afghanistan almost overwhelmed me on some days. I may have sounded strong when I was talking to the press, but sometimes I had to push my feelings way down in order to get any words out of my mouth to…
One week from today, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments about gay marriage. Here’s what you need to know. 1. There simply is nothing in the U.S. Constitution that requires all 50 states to redefine marriage. Whatever people may think about marriage as a policy matter, everyone should be able to recognize the Constitution…
On April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh detonated a truck bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The attack killed 168 people, including 19 children and a large number of federal employees. McVeigh sought revenge against the federal government, which he held responsible for the lives lost during the Waco…
The Obama administration’s lawyer, Benjamin Mizer, the acting assistant attorney general of the Civil Division at the Justice Department, did not have an easy time in his argument last Friday before a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in the immigration lawsuit filed by 26 states. He was questioned about all of the…
For decades social science has found that there is an optimal family structure for a child’s intellectual, emotional and physical flourishing: being raised in a home by her biological, married parents. All other arrangements—cohabiting biological parents, marriage with one step-parent, two adoptive parents or single parents—do not generally provide the same level of benefit. But…
Is a job a necessity or an opportunity? Earlier this month, Dylan Matthews provocatively challenged the bipartisan tradition of praising work. In Matthews’ view, work ought to be optional for Americans. We disagree, both because work is ennobling and because the alternative is to force others to work for you. But we are also interested…
The Supreme Court justices will be hard at work churning out decisions through the end of June, but April brings to a close oral arguments for the 2014-2015 term. Over the next two weeks, the justices will hear oral arguments in seven cases, including cases involving criminal law, overregulation, same-sex marriage and the death penalty….
Professors, policy experts, and students of economics, politics, and philosophy gathered at the 40th annual conference of the Association of Private Enterprise Education (APEE) to exchange ideas about how individual decisions are made, both in the economy and in the government that regulates it. In small sessions, researchers received feedback to incorporate into their work….
There was good news this month: private-sector job openings rose slightly in February, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Openings rose to 3.8 percent of all private-sector jobs and the job openings—the highest rate since January 2001. Other data for the month showed the unemployment rate for workers age 25-54 (often…
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren recently appeared on one of the late night talk shows, beating the class warfare drum and arguing for billions of dollars in new social programs paid for with higher taxes on millionaires and billionaires. In recent years, though, blue states such as California, Illinois, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland and Minnesota adopted this…
It’s been 20 years since we experienced the worst act of American home-grown terrorism at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. This solemn day stands as a reminder of the 168 souls that were lost. On a day where anger lashed out, Oklahomans responded with compassion. Every year since April 19, 1995,…
I had the privilege of serving as mayor in the small, Shenandoah Valley town where my wife and I raised our children. So, I am keenly aware of concerns about powerful out-of-state or out-of-area interests trying to take advantage of a rural population. The Nebraskan battles over the Keystone XL pipeline and the Terex injection…
Sometimes the left unwittingly throws gems our way. These come in rare moments of exasperation, rather than the usual poise the left displays. The transformation of America, after all, requires quiet, subtle movements, coordinated with high-minded propaganda. That’s why moments of condescending contempt, accompanied by the left’s sharpest weapon — mockery—are so revealing. For example,…