Our guns here to stay
Nothing gets America fired up quite like a debate about the Second Amendment. It's a meritless squabble, yet opportunities abound for many a politician and special interest group to draw immense benefit.
Category Archives: Opinion
Where’s the blame in school funding?
A relatively or somewhat, or maybe just not, clever plan by the Kansas Legislature this spring to meet the increasing funding needs of Kansas public schools by shuffling money within the school finance budget law was declared, well, not clever and not constitutional by the Kansas Supreme Court last week.
Around Town: Lawmaker to Ksu: Bring art during budget talks
University presidents intent on displaying exhibits, such as the one Kennesaw State University had on AIDS last month, can expect to bring samples of their work down to the statehouse when making the case for their annual university budgets, said state Rep. Earl Ehrhart, R-Powder Springs.
Winston Aldworth: Looking ahead
Sadly, I've shot myself in the foot by thinking ahead to my trip to New Orleans next month. Photo / iStock It's like double-dipping on the "happy glow" of a holiday buzz: you get to enjoy the holiday , but in the weeks or months beforehand you can warm up by researching your destination or even just flicking through photos online.
Elizabeth Warren is good at her job
Elizabeth Warren has a rare talent for distilling political messages. In 2011, as she was running for the Senate seat she won the next year, the former Harvard law professor delivered the kind of concise, pointed rationale for public investment - and the taxation to support it - that the White House had been striving to master for the previous three years.
Why Is This Hardcore Conservative Not #NeverTrump? Because Hillary Is So Much Worse
I've got a lot of #NeverTrump friends. Heck, I bet most of my friends are #NeverTrump.
War Stories for Memorial Day
Whether chilling on a beach or grilling out on a patio, Memorial Day is a perfect time to remember the sacrifice of our fallen soldiers with their stories of bravery. Today, I'll share some war stories with you that will hopefully encourage you to in turn share your own family's stories.
Up and Down – But Mostly Up – the Income Ladder
TWO RESEARCHERS at the Bank of Italy have documented something remarkable about Florence, the gorgeous Tuscan capital where the Medicis ruled and the Renaissance was born: The city's wealthiest residents today are descended from its wealthiest families six centuries ago. As The Wall Street Journal reported this month , economists Guglielmo Barone and Sauro Mocetti looked at tax records compiled in Florence in 1427 alongside municipal tax data from 2011.
Rules? What rules?
"Rules are made to be broken" is a saying that has many variations, but perhaps no one has summed up Hillary Clinton's attitude about rules more than the late science-fiction writer, Robert A. Heinlein, who said: "I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them.
Albert R. Hunt: Take the candidates at their word
A number of Republicans rationalize Donald Trump's proposals on immigration and trade as just political show. Similarly, some free-trade Democrats suggest that Hillary Clinton's protectionist stance is merely rhetoric.
‘Dark money’ scourge: Well-funded secret speech corrodes politics
For years we've been told the reason there are so many negative campaign attack ads is simple - because they work. That makes sense when candidates and campaigns spend hundreds of millions of dollars on such ads, mostly 30-second television commercials.
E.J. Dionne Jr.: ‘America First’ was made in Europe
Here's the irony of Donald Trump's "America First," immigrant-bashing, free-trade-averse, make-us-great-again nationalism: It is a European import. The American right has typically been anti-government, reverent of the Constitution, suspicious of political strongmen and resolute in insisting that "American exceptionalism" makes us different from other nations.
Delusions of competence this election season
In general, you shouldn't pay much attention to polls at this point, especially with Republicans unifying around Donald Trump while Bernie Sanders hasn't conceded the inevitable. Still, I was struck by several recent polls showing Trump favored over Hillary Clinton on the question of who can best manage the economy.
A Vote For – None Of The Above’
I don't know what it is about Republican voters this year but it's deeply troubling. That goes double for Americans generally as Bernie Sanders's campaign continues to roll on despite little chance of replacing Hillary Clinton as this year's Democratic nominee.
May 29: Bob Dylan, the Clintons and Verizon
Saint Paul, Minn.: Bob Dylan has always been difficult to understand. Much to the consternation of writers like Gersh Kuntzman and those of a generation before him, Dylan dodged and deflected any attempt made to profile his artistry .
Inquirer editorial: N.J. Democrats should choose Clinton, Law
With Donald Trump unopposed on the Republican side, New Jersey Democrats will cast some of the season's last votes on a contested presidential nomination on June 7. As the Editorial Board detailed before the Pennsylvania primary, despite the enthusiasm generated by Bernie Sanders, HILLARY CLINTON is better prepared for the office. South Jersey Democrats will also decide three congressional nominations.
National View: David Ignatius – On Syria, the U.S. and Turkey need each other
Here's a positive move by Turkey, a country that often seems to be heading in the wrong direction: Despite Ankara's severe misgivings, it is allowing the U.S. military to fly daily bombing missions from here against the Islamic State - in support of a Syrian Kurdish militia called the YPG that Turkey regards as a terrorist threat. Turkey offered the Incirlik base last year after a dozen years of tepid military relations with the United States, its superpower ally.
National View: InsideSources – The pernicious effects of polling on elections
Warning: The political news you are consuming may be synthetic, manufactured in a corporation and served up breathlessly by the media. Like many synthetic substances, it could be bad for your health.
Bloomberg View: Clinton can demolish Trump with one message
Each party is on track to nominate the only candidate who could possibly lose the election to the other. In the latest Washington Post-ABC poll, a sizable majority of Americans considered Donald Trump unqualified to be president.
Saturday’s letters: America’s disappearing middle class
Hooray for Eli Saslow's article. It well describes a hardworking family man trying to save his job and his middle-class way of life in Huntington, Ind.