Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
Here we go again. This week, Palestinian Authority chief negotiator Saeb Erekat has threatened that his government will apply for membership to 522 international organizations and statutes if the United States vetoes a U.N. Security Council resolution, presented last month by Jordan on behalf of Palestine and the Arab Group, establishing a “a timetable to…
Should the same federal government that improperly denied conservatives tax-exempt status and sought to investigate newsrooms now be tracking the Twitter hashtag #teaparty? Should it be the arbiter of what constitutes “misinformation” online or attempt to reduce “subversive propaganda”? Well, the bureaucracy thinks the answer to all those questions should be yes–and it has already…
Gunshots rang out at multiple locations across Ottawa this morning, including at the War Memorial and in the Parliament buildings. Much is unknown at the moment and the operation is ongoing. As of right now, police are reporting that one Canadian soldier, who was guarding the tomb of the unknown soldier at the War Memorial,…
A majority of Delawareans support education savings accounts (ESAs), according to a new study released by The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. The study used a randomly selected sample of Delaware voters to measure public opinion on a variety of education-related issues, including the direction of K–12 education, education spending, school choice options, and standardized…
As public health officials here and abroad take steps to cope with the Ebola virus disease outbreak, there are a few pieces of good news that merit highlighting. Nigeria declared Ebola-free. The World Health Organization declares an Ebola disease outbreak has ended within a country once 42 days have passed since the last day any…
Rabbit massages, laughing classes, and watching the grass grow–these are just a few examples of where your tax dollars went this year. During a time when many families have made financial sacrifices to make ends meet, the federal government continues to spend. Washington politicians continue to claim their levels of spending are necessary and that…
In response to public outcry and overwhelmingly negative poll numbers regarding his handling of the Ebola outbreak, President Obama appointed an Ebola czar to coordinate America’s response to the crisis. The problem is, the president’s new czar has caused more crises than he has solved. As chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden, Ron…
China announced on Tuesday that third quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth had slowed to 7.3 percent, the slowest since the 2008–2009 global recession. This slowdown means that Beijing will most likely fail to meet its annual growth target of 7.5 percent for the first time since 1998. With the U.S. and China at odds…
On Tuesday, United States District Judge Juan Pérez-Giménez upheld Puerto Rico’s law defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. He concluded that the U.S. Constitution does not require the redefinition of marriage. Notably, Pérez-Giménez becomes the first Democrat-appointee to the federal bench to uphold marriage law since the Supreme Court’s Windsor decision on…
Pyongyang has unexpectedly released Jeffrey Fowle, one of three American citizens being held for alleged crimes against North Korea. Fowle, a 56-year-old American tourist, was detained since May for leaving his Bible at a social club. Details of any U.S. government negotiations or terms of an agreement remain unknown, but it does not appear the…
Two years ago, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) convened the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to review the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) that “serve as the binding global treaty designed to facilitate international interconnection and interoperability of information and communication services.” Under consideration were more than 400 proposals, some…
We now have the Medicaid and private-market health insurance enrollment data for the second quarter of 2014 needed to complete the picture of how Obamacare’s rollout affected coverage. What we’ve learned is that the Obamacare gains in coverage were largely a result of the Medicaid expansion and that most of the gain in private coverage…
The Treasury Department released this month figures showing that federal tax revenue exceeded $3 trillion in fiscal year 2014—the first time revenue surpassed that mark. Yet the deficit was still almost $500 billion. Clearly, the government continues to spend too much. We should tax enough to fund the legitimate functions of government, like national defense,…
Watch out: dangerous guitar players could threaten you next! That seems to be the mindset of the New York Police Department. The NYPD recently arrested a local musician for loitering while playing the guitar in a New York subway station, despite reading word for word the law which allowed him to perform his music. The…
Pakistan has, yet again, demonstrated that it does not respect religious liberty. Yesterday, Pakistan’s Lahore High Court upheld the death penalty for Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman, on blasphemy charges. Bibi’s lawyers will appeal the case to the Supreme Court, but, as of now, Bibi will be hanged for blasphemy. Bibi, a farm worker and…
President Obama has evolved on marriage. Again. After supporting marriage as the union of a man and a woman until just before the elections of 2012, Obama announced back then that he supported democratic efforts to redefine marriage—but he didn’t think judges should redefine marriage. Now, just before the elections of 2014, Obama has announced…
The “not guilty” plea entered Monday by Benghazi suspect Ahmed Abu Khatallah in U.S. federal court in Washington D.C. hardly comes as a surprise. The suspect is now facing an additional 17 charges added to the original indictment filed by the government on July 26which accused him of support for a terrorist group and conspiring…
Most news accounts of the attack on Benghazi say it cost the lives of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. My nephew Sean Smith was one of those other Americans. It’s been a frustrating two years since Sean died serving his country on Sept. 11, 2012. There have been countless news reports, multiple…
The Texas voter ID law, which was effective in November 2013 statewide constitutional elections, will be in place for the Nov. 4 mid-term election, representing a big win for voters and election integrity in Texas. On Saturday, the Supreme Court rejected an emergency petition filed by the NAACP and refused to overrule the Fifth Circuit…
So who supports decriminalizing cocaine, heroin, LSD, methamphetamine, ecstasy and all dangerous drugs, including marijuana? No, it’s not your teenage nephew. It’s President Obama’s new acting head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Vanita Gupta. In 2012, Gupta wrote that “states should decriminalize simple possession of all drugs, particularly marijuana, and for small amounts…