Every September, as the end of the U.S. government’s fiscal year draws near, thousands of federal bureaucrats go on a massive spending bender, lest they risk having their future budgets cut in the next year because they didn’t spend all …
Captive State Probes Depths of Despair Under Oppression
When working at their highest level, science fiction movies provoke and engage in ideas fundamental to human existence. Because these artistic works are often dealing with alien and extraterrestrial experiences, they often probe the depths of human psychology, social psychology, …
Community, True and False
Leftists affect to love the community. When they make or support a political proposal, they are likely to say that it is for the community, that it is what the community wants. In discussions with such people, I find that …
National Emergencies Act: Flawed from the Beginning
There has been much debate about President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency on our southern border. Critics complain either that no real emergency exists and/or that Trump’s actions are unconstitutional. Too often, how one feels about the issue of …
Rose Newsom Grants a Mass Reprieve
As California voters may recall, in 2016 they rejected Proposition 62, which would have eliminated the death penalty, and approved Proposition 66, which speeded up the process for executions. As Lt. Governor, Gavin Newsom said he would abide by the …
FDA Wants More Sunscreen Regulations, but Would Consumers Get Burned?
Although many consumers and dermatologists are satisfied with the quality and safety of current sunscreens, sweeping changes may soon be coming. The Food and Drug Administration recently proposed a variety of new heavy-handed regulations for over-the-counter sunscreen. The regulations getting …
Resurgent Thomas Sowell Weighs In on Socialism, Venezuela
In 2016, Hoover Institution economist Thomas Sowell, 86, decided to give up his nationally syndicated column and “spend less time following politics and more time on my photography.” Sowell practically dropped out of sight, but recently decided to speak out …
Warren’s Commission Ignores Government Monopolies
As Fox News reports, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren wants to break up Amazon, Google, Facebook, and even Apple. In the view of the 2020 presidential hopeful, these tech companies are just too big and too powerful. The government, she says, …
Shortfalls in Funding State Government Employee Pensions
Many state government-run pension plans are running short of the money needed to pay 100% of the retirement benefits that state politicians have promised to the teachers, police officers, firefighters, and other employees of state governments. How short depends on …
Another Really Bad Idea in Illinois
California isn’t the only state with a federal government-funded bullet train project that will never live up to expectations. The state of Illinois has one too, but unlike California’s high-speed rail system, it will almost successfully connect two major metropolitan …
How Good Is Your State’s Credit Rating?
Writing at City Journal, Steven Malanga hones in on 10 state governments that have chronic overspending problems. Since 2003, ten states, like impulse buyers wandering through a mall on Black Friday, have repeatedly run deficits, spending more than they generate …
Media Hostility Could Help Trump Win Reelection
Numerous high-profile investigations, including new probes just announced by Democrats in the House of Representatives, add to uncertainty about President Trump’s election prospects in 2020. Nevertheless, a strong case can be made that a hostile media environment will actually make …
