Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
Another summer has come to an end. As I’ve been looking toward the new school year, I have had a chance to reflect on all the children who have touched my life over the past few years. In 2004, when the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (DCOSP) was implemented, I had the privilege of getting to…
Press reports indicate that President Obama plans to issue an order that will effectively legalize millions of illegal aliens. Doing so would be unjust, costly and will encourage more illegal immigration. If early press reports turn out to be accurate as to who is covered by the order, the order will also be much different…
In its latest assault on the U.S. Constitution, the Obama administration is proposing to recognize so-called “Native” Hawaiians as an Indian tribe entitled to separate and become an independent sovereign and to “reestablish” a “government-to-government relationship between the United State and the Native Hawaiian community.” Such an unconstitutional action would amount to authorizing secession for…
An exclusive excerpt from my new book, “A Race for the Future: How Conservatives Can Break the Liberal Monopoly on Hispanic Americans,” which comes out Sept. 2: Race for the Future Excerpt by Crown Publishing Group
How many iconic American companies have to leave or threaten to leave these shores for foreign lands before Washington acts to fix our anti-growth tax system and keep firms, profits, and jobs here in the U.S.? Burger King became the latest Fortune 100 company to announce it is looking to leave. The company is considering…
Is it possible for the culture to move in a positive direction? In one area, there is good news for U.S. culture: the teen birth rate has dropped 57 percent since 1991, reported the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Wednesday. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that single parenthood is going anywhere. Today, the greatest proportion…
In a column for Foreign Policy, environmental advocate Will Potter attacked Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott as “the Green Devil,” further labeling him as “the Australian environment’s worst nightmare.” As evidence, he offered up Abbott’s recent repeal of the nation’s carbon tax, his support for expanded logging in Tasmania, and the planned expansion of a…
Last Thursday, North Carolina Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood ruled the state’s school voucher program unconstitutional because the program “appropriates funds in a manner that does not accomplish a public purpose.” The Opportunity Scholarship Program was established last year and set to go into effect this school year, providing children from low-income families scholarships worth…
According to a disturbing revelation from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), illegal immigrants are being allowed to board commercial flights. Many illegal immigrants currently caught at the U.S. southern border are allowed to enter the U.S. but are given a “notice to appear” (NTA) ordering them to appear at an immigration court on a certain…
“The French … have paid out about $60 million over the last five years to various al-Qaida groups across the world.”
This fall, more students than ever will head off to public charter schools as the school year begins. Approximately 2.5 million students will enroll in 6,500 charter schools across the country. Notably, from 2001 to 2011, charter school enrollment increased by 1.2 million students. Charter schools, which are public schools that are independently managed and…
Many kids are heading back to public school this week, and so begins fall and spring semesters. You have entrusted the government to give your child a good curriculum and a teaching staff you can count on. But what happens when the school staff is equipped with a big list of employees, but not necessarily…
Last year, in historic recall elections over gun rights, Colorado voters ousted two top Democrat state senators and put a stop to the anti-gun agenda of then-New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Now it appears the recall elections may not be isolated victories—that they may, in fact, affect the 2014 midterms and possibly even the 2016…
Congress is debating the fate of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, an obscure government agency that funnels subsidies to foreign firms for the purchase of American exports. Proponents claim the bank aids small business, creates jobs and “levels the playing field” in global trade. In fact, Ex-Im does nothing of the kind, and Americans deserve to…
News media from coast to coast are celebrating a “California comeback” after a near-decade-long Golden State economic collapse. But even this latest recovery may be much more fragile than has been reported, and the state’s structural defects still imperil the left-coast economy. Certainly there are reasons for optimism. Tax collections were way up last year,…
The best way to start winning a war is to stop losing. That axiom certainly applies to what’s going on in Iraq. But, that said, there is no place for American brigades in this battle. Yes, Americans have a huge stake in preventing al-Qaida’s cousin from setting up a brutal caliphate in Iraq. The Middle…
Last week, I traveled to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to observe pre-trial proceedings in the military commission’s case against five men accused of committing the atrocities of Sept. 11, 2001 that resulted in the deaths of 2,976 men, women, and children. As a former federal prosecutor, deputy assistant attorney general in the Criminal Division of the…
With a blazing fastball that clocks at 70 miles per hour and a curveball that spins heads, Mo’ne Davis struck terror into even the bravest hitters at this summer’s Little League World Series. Standing just 5’4” and weighing only 111 pounds, Davis relies more on precision pitching fundamentals than sheer brawn. Many compare Davis’ technique…
This is Mark Bustos. He likes to give homeless people haircuts. He spends most of his week styling people like her at the high-end salon, Three Squares Studio, in New York City… … but during his personal time, he’s cutting the hair of people like them: According to NBC News, Bustos’ practice of giving out…