Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. In 1998, the eightieth anniversary of the Spanish Flu pandemic, I was fortunate to hear two survivors relate their indelible experiences. Marian McConkey and Lois Monahan were schoolgirls then, old … Continue reading
With Senator Bernie Sanders once again emerging as a front-runner for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, Medicare for All has again come to the forefront of political debate. But what exactly is the senator proposing? Is it simply the expansion … Continue reading
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at The Institute for Faith, Work & Economics. It’s election season in the U.S., and we are hearing a lot about voting. I saw a public service announcement on television, and a Hollywood actress … Continue reading
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at the Washington Examiner. Michael Bloomberg is spending loads of money to win the Democratic nomination. Financial disclosures made by the Bloomberg campaign indicated that as of Dec. 31, he had sunk more than … Continue reading
In a report that unfortunately received a good deal of attention, MSNBC commentator Joe Scarborough asserted that today’s economy under President Trump is in worse shape than the dismal economy under President Carter in 1979. Scarborough pointed to “Jimmy Carter’s so-called year … Continue reading
“No one ever makes a billion dollars. You take a billion dollars.” That was the punchline of democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day public interview with writer Ta-Nehisi Coates. The audience erupted into enthusiastic … Continue reading
During the week before Christmas, Congress rushed a spending bill into law. Two spending bills were introduced that Monday, a flurry of political horse-trading ensued, numerous pork-barrel favors were hastily added, and–presto–by Friday Congress had approved $1.4 trillion in discretionary … Continue reading
My father was a Presbyterian minister in rural northwest Alabama from 1961 to 1965. I came of age there, then left the University of Alabama with an M.A. in history in 1969. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and Governor George … Continue reading
In the early morning hours of Christmas Day 1979, Soviet forces began invading Afghanistan. The international community was shocked by the intervention; even though Afghanistan had been unstable for some time, most assumed that the Soviet Union would stick to … Continue reading
Among the many radical economic plans offered by various Democratic presidential candidates, Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have proposed an annual wealth tax on billionaires (and other “ultra-rich” Americans). Sanders has bluntly stated, “There should be no billionaires.” These … Continue reading
During an episode of Lebron James’ online show “The Shop,” California Governor Gavin Newsome signed into law a bill allowing California student athletes to sign endorsements while in college. The NCAA Board of Governors, having studied this issue for years, responded … Continue reading
U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) is promoting the “Prevent Government Shutdown Act of 2019.” The goal of the act is to prevent disruptive government shutdowns. Since Sen. Johnson arrived in Washington in 2011, partisan congressional standoffs have led to “three … Continue reading
President Donald Trump has had (what else?) a publicly tempestuous relationship with the Federal Reserve System. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has adhered to the Fed’s official traditional position of being apolitical. Typical of Powell’s statements is the unequivocal assertion, “Political considerations … Continue reading
Dr. Burt Folsom, Professor Emeritus and a Distinguished Fellow of Hillsdale College, came to campus to deliver this entertaining and engaging talk to over 100 Grove City College students in September 2019. Folsom is author of the best-selling book “The … Continue reading
I feel badly for the people of the United Kingdom. Brexit – the move to withdraw the UK from the European Union – has left the United Kingdom anything but united. Even families are being ripped apart. The most notable … Continue reading
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at Crisis Magazine. “If someone calls it socialism,” said Rev. William Barber at the August meeting of the Democratic National Committee, “then we must compel them to acknowledge that the Bible must then promote … Continue reading
On July 22, President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a two-year budget deal that suspends the debt ceiling, and will raise federal spending $320 billion over amounts agreed to during the Obama years. The agreement was unusual … Continue reading
This article was first published by firstthings.com. The advent of Boris Johnson as British prime minister has a feeling of inevitability about it. Theresa May was undoubtedly a “decent” person, in the English sense of the word, but she was … Continue reading
An apparent new litmus test has appeared among the 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls: abolishing the Electoral College. Calls to abolish the Electoral College are not new, but the debate surrounding the practicality and effectiveness of the Electoral College has quite … Continue reading
This will sound like the start of a bad joke, but please bear with me: What do Everett Dirksen, Otto von Bismarck, H.L. Mencken, and “the Preacher” in the book of Ecclesiastes have in common? Well, if you’ve been gone … Continue reading
