Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
Do you ever wish that that video of you dancing at your cousin’s wedding could just be erased from the Internet? Or that photo of you from 1975 sporting a leisure suit? So, apparently, do thousands of people in Europe. In one of the worst public policy decisions in European history (and that’s saying a…
Dads matter. As we head into Father’s Day weekend, that statement may seem like a cliché. But the tragic reality is that if people seeking to redefine marriage succeed in their efforts, it will become less likely in the future that Americans will have involved fathers. After all, the best way to ensure that a…
The recent $400 billion energy deal between Russia and China, the largest of its kind, is set to reshape the global energy markets and geopolitics. Under the deal, state-controlled Russian energy giant Gazprom will supply China with liquefied natural gas (LNG) for at least 30 years starting in 2018. It seems a natural fit. China…
For most Americans, the Netflix show “Orange is the New Black” is the closest they will ever come to experiencing the criminal justice system. Americans see the imprisoned female characters killed, starved and driven mad by prison conditions. For many viewers, the show provides a spooky wake up call to the all-too-disturbing reality of mass…
The World Cup starts tomorrow and right now, there’s little faith Brazil will come out of the games unscathed. Government mismanagement, burdensome bureaucracy and outsize corruption have led to this being the most expensive World Cup to date at around $12 billion. From unfinished construction projects to blatant government corruption, the games have served to…
In “Hard Choices,” Hillary Clinton’s new memoir, the former secretary of state attempts to answer the critics of her handling of the Benghazi scandal. Yet she completely fails to do the one thing that might have help lay the controversy to rest: express personal remorse and a sense of responsibility. Clinton’s account of the fateful…
The sudden rout of Iraqi security forces in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, is a humiliating defeat for the Iraqi government, a severe blow to U.S. policy in Iraq, and a strategic disaster that will amplify the threat posed by al-Qaeda-linked terrorists to the United States and its allies. The swift victory of the Islamic State…
Promoted as a way to move away from an outdated payment structure in Medicare, Accountable Care Organizations were expected to deliver better care at lower costs. But, two years later, like many of Obamacare’s promised savings, this experiment is falling short. As part of the “Medicare Shared Savings” program under Obamacare, ACOs join together doctors…
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is escalating its campaign of violence against the state as tentative peace talks with the government break down and the Pakistani military conducts air strikes against the group’s bases along the Afghan border. The U.S. must support Pakistan in its fight against the TTP, which seeks to overturn the Pakistani government…
Rarely is an election about just one specific issue. But Eric Cantor’s position on immigration reform, which included supporting some types of amnesty, fueled his defeat. His opponent, Dave Brat, made it the focal point of his campaign to oust Cantor. And while the political class is putting much of the blame for Cantor’s defeat on…
When reports of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Operation Choke Point surfaced in 2013, the Obama Administration insisted that the program was meant to stop fraudulent activity. The main idea, supposedly, was to “choke off” illegal businesses’ access to funds. According to one DOJ official, the operation was designed to change “the structures within the…
President Barack Obama needs to own up and accept responsibility for the growing crisis of children who came to the United States illegally. In recent years, the number of unaccompanied children crossing illegally has skyrocketed. In 2011, there were 6,500 and in 2013, the number doubled. For this year alone, the government is projecting anywhere…
It won’t be as simple from now on for ineffective California teachers to coast off to a lifetime career on easy street. In a Los Angeles Superior Court ruling today, Judge Rolf M. Treu “found five California laws governing teacher tenure, layoffs and dismissals unconstitutional,” reports Politico. “Treu found,” reporter Stephanie Simon wrote, “that the…
The House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee released its draft bill today. It takes positive steps toward environmental regulation and nuclear waste management. But the draft legislation largely misses the mark by continuing wasteful, taxpayer-funded energy subsidies and boosting spending for conventional energy such as oil, gas, coal, and nuclear energy technologies. The subcommittee should…
Sometimes religious liberty cases are black and white, but normally they’re various shades of gray and require careful critical thinking. They’re not so much a matter of arithmetic as they are geometry or even calculus. That’s one of the lessons from professor Robin Wilson’s law review article, “The Calculus of Accommodation: Contraception, Abortion, Same-Sex Marriage,…
Officials at the Environmental Protection Agency said a Heritage Foundation analysis of the agency’s war on affordable and reliable energy bore little resemblance to reality. But a quick look at the facts and the EPA response reveals it is the agency that needs a reality check. The response comes after EPA announced a rule to…
There are currently 38 countries in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). Poland, a long-standing friend to the U.S. and destination point for President Obama last week, is not one of them. The VWP allows visitors from designated countries to stay in the U.S. for up to 90 days, whether it’s for tourism or business. A…
The U.S. is the driver in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks and should take the lead in making Taiwan a part of it. Taiwan’s role as an important economic player in the Asia–Pacific would in part thus be preserved as far as its adherence to free-market ideas allows. “If you look at Taiwan’s bilateral economic…
One of the most persistent and misguided myths in economics is that trade deficits weaken the U.S. economy. For example, after the government released data showing the trade deficit increased in April, Reuters reported: “Trade subtracted almost a percentage point from first-quarter gross domestic product.” That is backwards. Trade adds to the size of the…
The Dietary Guidelines may soon be based on global warming as much as human nutrition. Currently, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) is working on recommendations for the 2015 Guidelines. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will use the Committee’s recommendations to modify the Guidelines, which…