K-12 Education

Yes, You Are Smart Enough: Empowering Students through High Learning Standards and Quality Education

Woke society continues to take aim at the nation’s education systems, insisting that minority students are simply incapable of meeting the academic standards that other students are expected to reach. One example: Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed Senate Bill 744 into law in July. The governor’s deputy communications director said in an email that suspending the reading, writing and math proficiency requirements...

September 10, 2021

Public Safety

Rise up: 9/11, twenty years on

In the days immediately following the horrific attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, a poem was left at a makeshift memorial near Ground Zero in New York. It began simply, “You rushed up the stairs of the towers, as we rushed down…” I took my son to the official memorial just a few weeks ago. As...

September 10, 2021

Energy & Environment

Joe Biden’s Climate Army is Coming

The climate army is coming.  Dissatisfied with the American people’s lack of concern for their issue du jour, self-righteous coastal elites are moving on from slick PR campaigns and headline-grabbing protests to deploy a legion of climate activists across the nation — paid for by your tax dollars, whether you like it or not.   President Joe Biden’s proposed Civilian Climate Corps (CCC) would be the biggest mobilization of government labor since the New Deal, a...

September 9, 2021

Border Security

Building Central America: Lessons from Afghanistan

The dramatic initial success of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, by any measure one of history’s most effective military offensives, gave way to 20 years of increasingly bureaucratic, decreasingly effective nation-building efforts, culminating in this month’s surrender to the Taliban and calamitous evacuation of Kabul. As the Biden administration planned what would become the August...

September 9, 2021

Public Safety

Together, We Can Make Mississippi Safer and Reentry-Ready

Tackling the complexities of reentry is an issue facing Mississippi—as well as every other state in our nation. As I testified this week before a Mississippi State Legislature joint House and Senate Committee hearing on national best practices for reentry, I was left with no doubt that when stakeholders work collaboratively, there’s great potential for...

September 9, 2021

Foreign Policy

Will China Move On Taiwan Now And Risk War With America?

When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) decides to quash the island nation of Taiwan’s successful run at democratic self-governance, will the Chinese try to limit the conflict to Taiwan and its immediate waters, or will they immediately embark on a wider conflict involving the United States, Japan, and other nations? It’s a big question. History...

September 9, 2021

Economy

Newsom’s recall desperation – whopper on California taxes shows he’s in big trouble

California is a tax haven for the middle class? Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom made that risible claim during a Sacramento Bee editorial board meeting last month as he battles the Sept. 14 recall election. Newsom’s questionable boast came in response to a reporter who prefaced her question by noting that California has the nation’s “highest housing costs, highest...

September 8, 2021

Election Integrity

Court challenges, like political grandstanding, won’t bring down Texas election reforms

Even as Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 1 into law in Tyler on Tuesday, Democrats and special interest groups were filing lawsuits to stop its implementation. They’ll challenge it on constitutional grounds, claiming it’s a blatant attempt to suppress minority votes. Yet that’s not the sole strategy at play here. Just as they used...

September 7, 2021

Economy

What Were They Thinking? They Weren’t.

Inflation is much worse than Washington seems willing to admit. With each month that goes by, however, the evidence is increasing—just like prices. The White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently more than doubled its inflation forecast for the year. Their new estimate is 4.8% for 2021, but the numbers are not adding...

September 7, 2021

Economy

Texas Can Save Millions of Dollars, If Lawmakers Act Soon

Texas owes $7 billion to the U.S. Treasury’s Unemployment Trust Fund. Lawmakers here in Texas can pay off that balance entirely, without any interest charges, and without using any state funds. The only catch is that the Texas Legislature and governor would need to do so by Sept. 6, so that’s unlikely—but they can keep...

September 3, 2021

Economy

Bearing Fruit: Impolitic Policies Stalling the Labor Market

The August jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was well below expectations, with nonfarm payrolls adding just 235,000 jobs, less than a third of the consensus estimate. The unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 5.2% while the labor force participation rate was unchanged at 61.7%. The number of unemployed declined to 8.4...

September 3, 2021

Energy & Environment

Solar Mandates are Shady: The High Cost and Limited Benefits of Government-Driven Renewables

In recent years it has become fashionable to incorporate green energy solutions like solar wiring and electric vehicle charging stations in homes and buildings. California leads the way in the attempt to transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy alternatives— with limited success — but the unintended financial consequences of these sanctimonious initiatives fall invariably...

September 1, 2021