Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
Brad and Dallas Woodhouse are brothers who occasionally spar with one another as political pundits on TV. The two are on opposite sides of the political spectrum and provide an entertaining take on policy issues. They didn’t seem to have expected their mother would ever join them on TV, though. During a conversation on C-SPAN,…
If a police officer’s erroneous understanding of the law leads to him pulling someone over, does he violate the Fourth Amendment, which established “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures”? On Monday, the Supreme Court said no, it’s not a violation. In…
A last-minute deal on pension reforms thrown into the $1.1 trillion CRomnibus passed by Congress over the weekend has some unions up in arms, while others had lobbied in support. Although far short of a cure-all, these reforms should reduce the chances of a taxpayer bailout. The most controversial provision of the 160 pages of proposed pension…
Australian police yesterday locked down the financial district of Sydney in response to a hostage-taking incident reportedly carried out by an Iranian refugee with a long criminal record. Man Haron Monis, who is also known as Sheikh Haron, held an unknown number of hostages before being shot and killed in a police raid earlier today….
It’s one of the longest-running, popular dramatic televisions shows of all time. “Grey’s Anatomy” has been a cultural staple in the lives of millennials for the past 10 years. Many of us feel like we’ve grown up with Meredith Grey, McDreamy and friends—and the show has had some truly unbelievable story lines over the years….
After 50 years of the War on Poverty with little results, it’s time for a new path forward. In a speech at the 2014 Heritage Antipoverty Forum, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., described his vision to lift more Americans out of poverty. Scott’s speech emphasized an often-overlooked factor contributing to opportunity: marriage. He spoke of the…
The legislative process in Washington is often compared to sausage making – something you don’t want to watch. But Jimmy Dean couldn’t hold a candle to this Congress. Harry Reid’s swan song is a 1,603-page budget that no one has read. Even worse is this year’s so-called “tax extenders” bill. This has become an annual…
What do Americans think about marriage and relationships? And do these attitudes line up with what research shows is best for relationships? A new, nationally representative survey of Americans ages 18-60 by the Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture helps answer this question. What Americans Say about Cohabitation The Austin Institute survey…
Key Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber has been under a hot spotlight recently for disparaging comments he made about his fellow citizens. In a series of videos taken at various conferences and lectures between 2010 and 2013, Gruber claimed that the effects of Obamacare had to be hidden from Americans because of “the stupidity of the…
”Divorce is on the rise.” At least, that’s the story Americans often hear, as New York Times reporter Claire Cain Miller explained earlier this month. But what does the data say? Divorce rate data is far from perfect, but the general consensus among researchers is that divorce actually has declined since the 1980s, as this chart…
President Obama’s administration just announced a $1 billion initiative ($750 million in federal grants and the remainder from private funding) to enroll more children in government preschool programs. The new measure was announced formally at the White House Summit on Early Education last week. The push comes on the heels of President Obama’s speech on…
In the wake of Republican mid-term electoral victories, and with support for the president’s health care law registering new lows in the Gallup survey, it is time to consider what a “repeal and replace” strategy for Obamacare might actually look like. While it is true that the politics and timing remain fluid, it is still…
The abortion rate keeps dropping. The latest numbers from the CDC, released last week, show that the abortion rate is the lowest it’s been since 1973, the year the Supreme Court manufactured a constitutional right to abortion in Roe v. Wade. This raises two important questions: What is the cause of the decline in abortion?…
James Grant’s excellent new book, The Forgotten Depression: 1921: The Crash That Cured Itself, tells the story of “America’s last governmentally untreated depression.” Just prior to the Roaring Twenties, the U.S. went into a deep economic slump but soon recovered—despite no active government stimulus policies. That sort of government inaction, of course, is very different…
Editor’s note: This column was originally published Dec. 5. On Dec. 12, the Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act. Page 1,163 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) states: “The land conveyed under this subsection shall be used only as a motocross, bicycle, off-highway vehicle, or stock car racing area, or for any other public…
When it comes to foreign policy, among the most powerful words in any Congressman’s vocabulary are “none of the funds appropriated by this Act…” Congress used them, or a variation thereof, twice this week in connection with Burma policy. The 2015 Omnibus Spending Bill contains language prohibiting funding for “International Military Education and Training (IMET)”…
Finishing off a week that was pretty bad for the media, CBS News is now spinning a story about a Michigan religious freedom bill. Their headline reads: “Bill would let Michigan doctors, EMTs refuse to treat gay patients.” But the bill does nothing of the sort. The bill, passed by the Michigan House last week,…
The Federal Reserve should stop trying to stimulate the economy for two reasons. First, the policies it has enacted so far have contributed very little to the economic recovery. Second, it likely has reached the limits of what monetary policy can do to boost the economy. The Fed’s unconventional “quantitative easing” programs have filled the…
Sorry, but this one you can’t blame on either party. Yes, President Obama has made the problem much, much worse, but the scary truth is that the national debt keeps rising inexorably no matter who or which party is in office. That’s the new law of American politics. When I first arrived in Washington in…
Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to have picked a bad time to try to restore the Russian empire. Collapsing energy prices are weakening the value of the ruble, causing inflation and depriving Putin of badly needed income. We might expect his troubles to curb his appetite for aggression. Alas, it has not. If anything, the…