The Biden administration has released its plans to introduce a new income-driven repayment program for student loans. The proposed regulations are as bad as the early indications hinted they would be. For those just getting up to speed, a standard loan uses a fixed monthly payment and a predetermined number of payments (e.g., a car loan of $500 per...
America’s Justice Department has become politicized and the Biden documents scandal begs the question, what did Merrick Garland know? The political weaponization of the U.S. Department of Justice finally hit a wall last week as Attorney General Merrick B. Garland boxed himself into having to appoint a special counsel to examine classified documents squirreled away in multiple...
Teachers’ unions and Democrats want to perpetuate COVID pandemic forever Way to go, teachers unions! America’s school children were among the big casualties of COVID-19 pandemic policies. Shuttered schools and remote learning sank national math scores, slashed individual lifetime earnings, and stunted the economic growth potential. Once again, our children were political pawns in a...
On the day Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom was sworn into his second term in office, he took to Twitter to make a remarkable—even risible—claim, that “California is the true freedom state.” Newsom went on to write, “Protecting liberty from a rising tide of oppression taking root in statehouses. Weakness, masquerading as strength. Small men...
Ballots or bullets? Riot or representation? America has faced such crossroads in the past, in which violent unrest preceded change. Shays’ Rebellion in 1786 led to the Constitution. The Civil War resulted in emancipation. And anger with policing and the criminal justice system, with government COVID lockdowns, and with widespread disregard of election law and...
Texans are struggling with high property taxes, soaring prices, and stagnant income. As a result, most big-budget players favor some property tax relief. For instance, Gov. Greg Abbot declared his intention to use half of the actual surplus fund ($16.3 billion) for this initiative. Likewise, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick revealed that property tax relief is...
The legislative session is right around the corner and many things are starting to become clear—like how big the budget should be, how much money will be available for property tax relief, and what top state officials are saying about it all. With that in mind, here are five critical policy questions and answers about...
It’s truly disappointing that the New Year was rung in with headlines such as “New Orleans is ‘America’s Murder Capital’ of 2022,” after nine shooting incidents in just 24 hours at year’s end. As a native Louisianan, a former probation and parole officer, and the Louisiana State Director of Right On Crime, a criminal justice initiative of...
Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom, 55, will be sworn into his second and last term on Friday, Jan. 6. This marks the start of Newsom’s 26th consecutive year in elected office. Given Newsom’s ambitions and age, will he run for president in 2024? Newsom, like Vice President Kamala Harris, got his political start when former San Francisco mayor...
It’s been 10 months since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the second phase of his invasion of Ukraine, aiming to dismantle its government and replace it with one of his liking while annexing large portions of Ukrainian territory. Instructively, Putin launched the first phase of his operations against Ukraine in 2014 when Joe Biden was...
Israel B. Bitton’s new book, “A Brief and Visual History of Antisemitism,” shouldn’t be needed — but sadly, it is. A substantial work two years in the making, the visually rich effort features a foreword by Israeli President Isaac Herzog. It’s aimed at all people, but it is particularly designed for seniors in high school...
The German proverb — “it is easier to hurt than to heal” — is at the root of today’s homeless tragedy. In 2013, the U.S. instituted a seismic shift in how it approached homelessness. Rather than fund the combination of housing and clinical services to support the homeless in healing from the disease and trauma...