Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
The House Select Committee to Investigate Benghazi last week produced a timeline of the efforts to uncover former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email trail. A large body of evidence—Clinton’s emails from the days and weeks surrounding the Sept. 11, 2012 attack—has been kept out of reach by Clinton and her aides. This means that…
Tax dollars paid for about 85 cents of every dollar spent in 2014—the rest was borrowed. Where did all that money go? Your 2014 tax dollars—which are due next month—went primarily to pay for government benefits. Major entitlements (Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare and Social Security) devoured more than half of the 2014 budget at 51 percent…
Let’s be clear, this bill is about helping victims of human trafficking.
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…
Should faith-based adoption providers have to agree to placing children with same-sex couples? Illinois, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia have adopted policies that would require this, in violation of some agencies’ deeply held beliefs that children deserve a mom and a dad—effectively forcing these agencies out of adoption and foster care service. Legislation re-introduced…
For Washington, it’s budget season. President Obama released his budget early last month, and this week it’s Congress’ turn to reveal its own budget resolutions. Government spending and debt has grown out of control: The current national debt exceeds $18.1 trillion and is only growing higher. It is Congress’ responsibility to address the national spending…
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…
For the past decade, the U.S. Justice Department has engaged in the dubious practice of giving away the public’s money when it settles a case, by sometimes conditioning a settlement on a company’s agreement to donate money to a third-party of the government’s (or the defendant’s) choosing. For example, the Justice Department settled cases last…
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….
A year after the English-language edition of “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” dominated American bestseller lists, Thomas Piketty is trying to cover his retreat with an article aimed at academic economists who have largely rejected the book. In the new article, Piketty tries to guide people toward his tome’s stronger points and away from its…
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…
President Obama sure knows how to get the world’s attention. His public tantrum over Benjamin Netanyahu being invited to speak before a joint session of Congress pretty much assured that the entire globe would tune in to hear the Israeli prime minister enumerate his concerns over a nuclear deal with Iran. This soap opera offers…
Yet again, the push is on to lift the 40-year-old ban on exporting crude oil. Yet again, opponents claim this would be a disaster … that prices would climb, availability would be threatened and the strategic advantages of holding onto our oil would be discarded. But what Americans need to understand is that lifting the…
Should someone need a license to whiten your teeth? In February, the Supreme Court sided with the Federal Trade Commission in its antitrust lawsuit against the North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners. The Board, which regulates the practice of the dental industry in North Carolina, was sued by the Commission after sending cease-and-desist letters to…
On February 11, the House Armed Services Committee held a hearing with four think tanks to explore possible alternatives for the fiscal year (FY) 2016 congressional budget. Although different views abounded, all agreed on one thing: The sequestered discretionary caps instituted by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA) severely damage national security. As Congress…