Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
Reports that a Jewish candidate at University of California, Los Angeles’ student council was subjected to an anti-Semitic inquisition by fellow students have the media atwitter, and rightly so. But there’s nothing new here. Anti-Semitism is just part of the anti-Western and anti-American animus that passes under the name of “multiculturalism,” and has been burning…
On Tuesday, 75 Republicans pressured by our leadership and a weak-kneed Senate joined 182 Democrats in abandoning a provision blocking President Obama’s executive actions on immigration in the Fiscal 2015 Department of Homeland Security spending bill. Without a doubt, Congress ceded its constitutional authority when it gave up the fight to ensure the president faithfully executes the…
Baseball player Daniel Murphy thinks it’s wrong to practice a gay “lifestyle.” Now he’s no longer allowed to talk about his religious beliefs. Why is the nation even discussing what Murphy, a second baseman for the New York Mets, thinks about gays and lesbians? Well, because after Billy Bean, a gay former Major League Baseball…
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ employment report found robust economic growth continued in February. Employers added 295,000 net new jobs while unemployment dropped to 5.5 percent. Employment expanded across many industries while wage growth remained moderate. The household survey reported the unemployment rate dropped 0.2 percentage points. This largely happened because 354,000 Americans left the…
Indian Prime Minister Modi has received praise at home and abroad for a speech he gave on February 17 that took a firm stand against religious persecution and violence and pledged equal treatment for all religions in India. His remarks were made to an audience of 1,200 Christians who had gathered to mark the canonization…
I’ll be on “Real Time with Bill Maher” on Friday at 10 p.m. EST. One of the topics we will likely discuss is the Obamacare case King v. Burwell heard before the Supreme Court this week. One of the other panelists on the show is former Obama advisor David Axelrod. I have a feeling he…
Despite the much-vaunted “Asia pivot,” American defense spending and force allocations haven’t shifted that much to Asia. As China’s economy exhibits signs of slowing down, there have been questions about whether this would affect Chinese defense spending. China’s officials made clear that it would not when they announced this week that defense spending would again…
Here’s a quick update on the latest developments in environmental regulation: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is preparing what likely will be the most costly regulation in history—stringent ozone restrictions that manufacturers estimate will cost the economy $140 billion and threaten one million jobs. The EPA and Army Corps of Engineers are attempting to vastly…
Are the Democrats in charge of Congress? On its face, this question certainly seems ridiculous since Republicans regained control of the Senate and increased their majority in the House of Representatives last November. But as we have witnessed over the last several weeks, just because Republicans have the most seats in the Senate and the…
Estonia’s center-right Reform Party won the most seats in the parliamentary elections that concluded on Sunday. The Reform Party won 30 seats, while the Centre Party, which is supported by most ethnic Russian voters, came in second with 27 seats. In all, six parties won seats in the 101-seat Riigikogu, Estonia’s unicameral parliament. The Reform…
Today the Supreme Court heard oral argument in King v. Burwell, an important case dealing with the Obama administration’s attempt to hand out tax credits not authorized by the text of the law. This is the third appearance of Obamacare before the Supreme Court and the justices were so intrigued by the case that Chief…
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in the case of King v. Burwell—a challenge to an IRS rule under Obamacare that provides the payment of premium subsidies to individuals enrolled in the federal exchange. Obamacare’s advocates have made various claims about the harm that would supposedly occur if the court were to find for…
The U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world, is the only major country to tax its businesses on income earned outside the country and delays the ability of businesses to deduct capital expenses for as long as 39 years. The monstrous complexity of the U.S. tax system has a disproportionately adverse…
The House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee held a hearing last week on the impending crisis of the insolvency of the Social Security Disability Insurance program. The Senate Budget Committee held a similar hearing earlier in February. These hearings are happening as the Disability Insurance (DI) program is running toward insolvency before the end…
On Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in King v. Burwell, a challenge to Obamacare that could gut a core provision of the law. In the lead up to the oral argument, many Obamacare supporters are attempting to influence the justices, particularly Chief Justice John Roberts, who cast the pivotal vote in the…
The so-called affordable housing movement achieved a victory with the recent move by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to finance two new funds: the Housing Trust Fund (HTF) and the Capital Magnet Fund (CMF). Securing additional federal financing for their cause has been a longtime wish of the movement. In the wake of the…
It is never the right time to do the right thing in Washington, D.C. The phrase I heard most often from Republican leadership while serving in the House and Senate was, “This is not the right time to have this fight.” Whether the issue was balancing the budget, school choice, patient-driven healthcare, eliminating earmarks, raising…
Jimmy Carter had one of the worst foreign and defense policy records of any modern president. But, at least he cut one good deal. The speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu before a joint session of Congress makes clear President Obama can’t even match Carter’s level of competency. The high point of Carter’s…
He had only to stand before a microphone to bring smiles to the faces of an expectant conservative audience. Would he report the latest grab for power from the Land of Leviathan—Washington, D.C.? Would it be an ironic remark about the current liberal hero—Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Clinton, Obama? Or would it be a Wildian reflection…
The national spotlight has focused on Wisconsin’s push to become the nation’s 25th right-to-work state. Reporters have paid much less attention to an equally important story in Kentucky: the rapid expansion of local right-to-work laws. Kentucky—like many states—delegates its localities “home rule” powers. Counties can regulate extensively so long as they do not contravene state…