Opinion and commentary on news, politics, culture, and policy impact.
The tiny West African country of The Gambia rarely makes international news, but a brewing conflict over presidential election results has thrust it into the spotlight. In December 2016, Adama Barrow defeated The Gambia’s longtime dictator, Yahya Jammeh, in a presidential election. Jammeh once boasted he would rule for a billion years, so it was…
According to her opponents during Wednesday’s Senate confirmation hearing, Betsy DeVos, President Donald Trump’s choice for secretary of education, is guilty of wanting to privatize the public schools. To be sure, the nominee’s critics are entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. Here are the facts: DeVos believes that all children are…
On Jan. 20, two events are happening that are appreciated by many in flyover country, but cause confusion or disdain at best among the pop culture elite. One, of course, is the presidential inauguration. The other event, admittedly slightly less well-known, is the opening of the faith-based feature film I directed, “The Resurrection of Gavin…
The Hill reported Thursday that President-elect Donald Trump’s team is considering “dramatic” cuts to the federal budget, using as a baseline a report issued in 2016 by The Heritage Foundation. Predictably, the left is having an absolute meltdown. The bloggers at Slate fanned themselves with sanctimonious tweets from people who clearly hadn’t read the Heritage proposals. Meanwhile,…
On Wednesday, Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., the nominee to be the next secretary of health and human services, went before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions for his confirmation hearing. During almost four hours of intense questioning, including questions concerning his ownership of health-related stocks, Price’s cool and measured responses demonstrated an…
Americans voted in November for seismic change, but our outgoing president is still as clueless as ever about the nation he governed. In his farewell speech-cum-lecture earlier this month, President Barack Obama proclaimed that he made America better by “almost every measure.” The statement goes far beyond optimism, and lands squarely in the realm of…
The Washington establishment was stunned. A political outsider with few connections in the nation’s capital, but wide national celebrity among the American people, was going to be the next president of the United States. Washington, D.C., residents were unprepared for the wild scene that was about to unfold when the new president’s advocates—and a few…
More than any other political act, the orderly transfer of power from one administration to another at a presidential inauguration demonstrates convincingly that we are a nation of laws and not of men. Even with the closest of outcomes and the losing side’s understandable disappointment—and even anger—victor and vanquished normally pledge to work together for…
Protesters with megaphones are making a lot of noise over the confirmation of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. But Pruitt and others concerned about an agency that has grossly exceeded its statutory authority and threatened individual liberty are giving a bigger megaphone to voices all over the country that…
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt’s confirmation hearing to head up the Environmental Protection Agency provided a glimpse into how the agency would operate under new leadership. Critical reforms should rein in regulations that have little scientific backing and environmental benefit. A top priority for the EPA and the new administration should be eliminating the use…
On Tuesday night, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held a confirmation hearing for Education Secretary-designate Betsy DeVos. Devos, a longtime proponent of school choice, also fielded questions about her positions on higher education and preschool. The hearing turned into a vibrant debate among the senators about the merits of education choice,…
Warming up the car while enjoying a morning coffee is a time-honored tradition for millions of Americans every winter day. But Roseville, Michigan, resident Nick Taylor learned that it is also illegal in his home state. Taylor received a $128 ticket for leaving his car sitting in idle to warm up in his own driveway….
President-elect Donald Trump’s threats against American companies looking to relocate in foreign countries have won favorable review from many quarters. Support comes from those alarmed about trade deficits, those who want a “level playing field,” and those who call for “free trade but fair trade,” whatever that means. Some American companies relocate in foreign lands…
Exercising his authority under Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, President Barack Obama commuted the court-martial sentence of convicted felon Chelsea Manning, formerly known as Bradley Manning. Although there is no dispute that Obama had the legal authority to commute the former Army private first class’ sentence, the president and his advisers had…
“Elections have consequences, and at the end of the day, I won.” These were the infamous words President Barack Obama used to scold congressional Republicans just three days after his inauguration in 2009, foreshadowing how he would approach policymaking for the next eight years. Rather than listening to and trying to work with Republicans, Obama…
It’s 2017 and women are still being silenced. The twist is that it’s now by other women. The Women’s March on Washington, scheduled to occur the day after President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, had listed a pro-life group, New Wave Feminists, as a partner organization. After The Atlantic highlighted the group’s participation as a partner in…
The Congressional Budget Office has released a new report estimating the impact that last year’s reconciliation bill (H.R. 3762), which repealed a lot of Obamacare’s major provisions, would have on coverage and premiums. At first glance, the estimates are daunting—but when put into the context of reality, they have little meaning. Last year’s reconciliation bill…
There seems to be something about Cuba’s military dictators that really fascinates our 44th president. Cuba was the first item President Barack Obama mentioned when he enumerated his foreign policy “achievements” in his farewell address; and with just a week to go, he has rushed anew to make concessions to the communists in Havana. The concessions…
Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions’ two-day marathon confirmation hearing left Americans with many takeaways—some on his many qualifications for the office of United States attorney general to which President-elect Donald Trump has nominated him, and others on the merit, or lack thereof, of his opposition. In the weeks leading up to this hearing, opponents in Congress…
Liberals are notorious for caring about “groups” of people, but when it gets down to individual persons, not so much. You’re about to see this play out in spades as Democrats cry crocodile tears over the coming repeal of Obamacare. You hear it over and over again: “This will be catastrophic for the 20 million…