Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
Today’s Supreme Court ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties, which are for-profit companies, raises questions about the fate of the HHS mandate accommodation for which certain religious non-profit employers are eligible. Under the accommodation, non-profit employers self-certify to their insurance provider or third-party administrator that they have a religious objection to…
Today the U.S. Supreme Court handed down an important victory for participants in home-health care programs. In a 5-4 decision authored by Justice Samuel Alito, the Court held in Harris v. Quinn that Illinois’ forced unionization scheme violated the First Amendment. The Supreme Court also criticized the practice of forced unionization for all government employees…
Not thinking things through is a chronic problem with policy-makers in Washington. Superficial and easily sound-bite-able policies dominate the thoughtful-but-complex ones. For instance mandates for biofuel use would seem to be driven by basic supply and demand—more domestic fuel would lead to lower fuel prices for consumers. But the reality is more complex. On June…
Despite today’s Supreme Court ruling in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, the fight against the coercive HHS mandate is far from over. More than 300 other family businesses, schools, and religious organizations still must decide whether to violate their beliefs or face government penalties. Charitable organizations such as Little Sisters of the Poor and Mother Angelica’s…
You don’t have to agree with Hobby Lobby or share its owners’ opposition to abortion to recognize that the government should not be able to force Americans to set aside their deeply held beliefs simply because they go into business. Thankfully, the Supreme Court agreed and upheld the right of Americans to live and work…
• Drug cartels are helping would-be immigrants cross the border. • Border officials: 3 of 4 people crossing the border are from countries other than Mexico. • State lawmaker: “Texas is not waiting for Washington to act.” Last weekend, I visited McAllen, Texas, a hotbed of activity in the recent immigration surge on the U.S. – Mexico…
Some unexpected fireworks emerged from the 50th public meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, held in London from June 22-26—fireworks that should be of interest to Congress as it considers the ramifications of the Obama administration’s announcement that it does not intend to renew its contract with ICANN. The first controversy…
One of the leading leftwing environmentalists last week described the hundreds of thousands of Americans who may lose their jobs due to the Obama administration’s new anti-carbon regulations as “collateral damage” in the fight against global warming. The offensive comments were issued by William S. Becker, the head of the Climate Action Project, a well-funded environmental…
Secretary of State John Kerry recently floated a mind-numbing idea: to help turn back ISIS, the Islamic terrorist group that has seized control of more than a third of Iraq, the U.S. could enter a cooperative arrangement with the mullahs of Iran. Yes, the administration still clings to the notion that it can advance American…
Michelle Obama thinks she knows what your children should eat. She’s adamant about promoting her nutrition policies for kids, even the new and disastrous school meal standards implementing the “Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.” In a recent MSN interview, Michelle Obama revealed her own struggles with getting her kids to eat properly before she came to the…
Chaos has erupted at the border with a sudden influx of Central American children entering America—illegally and alone. Initially, the Obama administration tried to blame the exodus of adolescents on their desire to flee violence in their home countries. Only lately has the White House bowed to reality and finally conceded what Democrats in Congress,…
America lost one of its great entrepreneurs of the last 50 years, and the conservative movement lost one of its most generous benefactors, when Richard Sharp, a pioneer in the astounding consumer-electronics revolution of the 1980s and 1990s, died on Tuesday. As a business leader and visionary over the past three decades, Rick Sharp, of…
Few Americans know much about the Export-Import Bank, and yet this obscure government agency is currently the focus of intense debate in the nation’s capital. So what gives? At the most practical level, lawmakers must decide whether to reauthorize Ex-Im’s charter, which expires on Sept. 30. The bank provides taxpayer-subsidized financing to foreign firms so…
Tony Snow was dying. But the White House press secretary, still determined to serve his president, returned to work as long as his cancer was in remission. Many thankless tasks awaited the former Fox News journalist. One of them was brokering meetings with conservative leaders — asking them to “hear out” George W. Bush‘s plan…
The commerce department reported Wednesday that the economy contracted by nearly 3 percent from January through March. This dismal shrinkage in output has many Americans worrying about a dreaded double dip recession. On the jobs front, it feels to many Americans that the recession never ended. One of the misleading headlines from last month’s employment…
I joined Lou Dobbs on his program Thursday night to discuss the continued flood of immigrants crossing the southern border and how it was affecting the morale of border agents and law enforcement officials dealing with the crisis. We also discussed what the border agents told me would stop the flood of illegal aliens, many…
Tour guides no longer have to pass a test and pay a fee to lead visitors around the District of Columbia. This morning, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that requiring Segway sight-seeing tour guides to pay the $200 fee and pass a test violated the First Amendment. Segs in…
Right now, myriad crises around the globe require U.S. leadership: a radical Islamic army on the march in Iraq, chaos in Syria, Russia and China bullying neighbors, and near daily violence in Nigeria. Yet, the Obama Administration has chosen to focus its attention on landmines. The White House announced today that the U.S. will no…
With the momentum of the appropriations process stalled in the Senate, Sen. Harry Reid is trying to bring back the grease that helps the legislative wheels roll: earmarks. It is no secret that the Senate Majority leader is a huge proponent of the specially-tailored spending provisions that have faced a moratorium in congress since 2011….
Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling that President Obama’s “recess” appointments to the National Labor Relations Board were unconstitutional could mean as many as 800 cases decided by the illegal appointees would have to be reconsidered. The Court ruled three appointments President Obama made on Jan. 4, 2012, to fill out the five-member National Labor Relations Board,…