Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
“Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program,” quipped Milton Friedman. The same could be said of teachers with tenure. Last year, just two – that’s right, two – teachers in California were dismissed because of performance issues, according to Parent Revolution’s Ben Austin. While it’s likely only a small minority of teachers is grossly…
This week an important religious– liberty law did what it was supposed to do. In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) provided the Supreme Court with a mechanism for weighing competing claims in our pluralistic society. The Court determined that we can, in fact, balance seemingly conflicting interests without throwing out…
When the U.S. Chamber of Commerce aligns with a disciple of Fidel Castro and hires a working-class hero to lobby Congress, when a liberal economist like Paul Krugman sympathizes with the CEOs of Boeing, Bechtel, and General Electric, it is obviously not business as usual on Capitol Hill. Welcome to Ex-Im 2014. For those with…
The past weeks have brought an avalanche of disasters for the United States in the wider Middle East. Unless the Obama administration changes course, the coming months will bring worse. The administration’s premise is that radical Islamist groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS pose a greater threat to the United States than Iran. As the…
Foreign fighters—outsiders recruited or who volunteer to fight in another country for somebody else’s cause—are nothing new. What’s new is that they have become a staple of the Al Qaeda cohort. It’s called the “pipeline” problem. Ferrying warriors to the war and also returning them home to spread the war elsewhere has become part of…
In recent years Americans have been feeling less satisfied with their amount of freedom. In fact, Gallup recently released a poll that reveals this trend. The poll shows that 79 percent of Americans are satisfied with their freedom to choose what to do with their lives—down from 91 percent in 2006. At the same time,…
Today, Americans observe Independence Day, in which we celebrate not just our separation from King George and Great Britain, but the affirmation of what Jefferson called our “unalienable rights.” Foremost among these is freedom of expression. In the 238 years since, this right—enshrined as the First Amendment—has become a cornerstone of our constitutional system. Not…
Virginia Prodan, a Dallas immigration attorney, escaped Communist Romania and was granted political asylum by the United States. She immediately fell in love with the freedom and possibility in America. This is the story of her journey to become an American citizen—and why she is committed to helping immigrants come to the United States legally.
Paul Krugman of the New York Times took a shot at economist Arthur Laffer and others who advise governors around the country to cut taxes to boost economic growth and jobs, calling us “charlatans and cranks” (“ Kansas shows enduring power of bad ideas,” July 1 Opinion). Krugman said it went awry in Kansas, where…
Nowadays in polite society, we rarely hear anyone talk about strength of character, virtues or greatness. To discuss these matters would require making “value judgments,” and we are told we cannot judge. Openness is the only virtue we recognize. Our Founders thought differently. They recognized the republic they established could be sustained only if the…
Americans are no stranger to these words from the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…” Unfortunately, our efforts to attain equal opportunity pay too little attention to one of the biggest factors threatening opportunity: the breakdown of the family. Far too many American children–more than 40 percent–enter…
They called it the Declaration of Independence, but what Jefferson, Adams and the other Founders actually did 238 years ago today was separate the United States from a foreign nation, severing itself from the sovereignty of King George III. U.S. sovereignty was hard-fought. The Declaration was just the beginning. It took seven years of war…
The persistent march of terrorists and tyrants around the globe gives us reason to reflect on the precious gift of freedom we have been given and must continue to safeguard. In signing the Declaration of Independence, 238 years ago, our Founding Fathers defied an intolerable King and proclaimed a God-given right to life, liberty, and…
Just in time for the Fourth of July, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has added a new regulatory weapon to its arsenal. In a Federal Register notice on July 2 titled “Administrative Wage Garnishment,” the EPA stated that by the authority of the Debt Collection Improvement Act (DCIA ) of 1996 it…
There was no love lost between President Obama and and the Supreme Court as it handed down two major defeats for the administration in its final week of the 2013-2014 term.
As Americans prepare to celebrate Independence Day, a Gallup poll finds a growing number of people questioning whether our country remains the land of the free. According to Gallup, the percentage of Americans who are dissatisfied with the freedom to do what they choose with their lives has more than doubled since 2006, from 9…
The New York State Court of Appeals recently issued a landmark ruling affirming the “home rule authority” of towns. In the 5-2 decision, the court upheld 2011 ordinances that prohibited Marcellus Shale gas drilling in the towns of Middlefield and Dryden. Under the new ruling, towns and local communities may use zoning laws to ban…
Officials of the Export-Import Bank are peddling all sorts of reasons to continue subsidies for foreign firms that purchase U.S. products. Most of the claims are misleading, if not patently false, and thus easily dismissed. But there is one that is causing a bit of unnecessary worry for some lawmakers, i.e., the notion that U.S….
Each year, the Fourth of July means millions of flags, hung from houses and adorning the tops of flag poles, will be fluttering in the breeze. But this Fourth of July, one veteran who once wore the flag on his uniform sleeve will face foreclosure for trying to display an American flag in front of…
The newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is renovating the Washington, D.C., headquarters it rents—at a cost per square foot that is more expensive than Trump World Tower in New York City. The CFPB project is estimated to cost taxpayers more than $215 million, prompting members of the House Financial Services Committee to question agency officials about its rising price tag….