No American is above the law — not even former presidents. After a monthslong investigation, a New York grand jury indicted former president Donald J. Trump on charges related to hush-money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the lead-up to the 2016 election.

The grand jury, consisting of typical Americans across race, ...Read more

After many years of litigating Donald Trump’s alleged crimes in the press, we now have the first indictment of a former president in U.S. history. If you look past the partisan rancor surrounding the charges, there is overwhelming evidence that Trump has committed various crimes in New York and elsewhere.

The fact that no one is above the law...Read more

Yet again, our news screens flashed those two damn words: “BREAKING NEWS.”

Yet again, it no longer even felt like news. As soon as we got the words “mass shooting” and “school” nothing in this breaking news seemed new – and everything seemed to be breaking. Yet again. Breaking lives, breaking hearts, breaking governance.

So we ...Read more

The legacy of more than two centuries of inequality that haunts Virginia and other Southern states affects us more than we may realize.

A good example of how systemic inequalities make it tough to build wealth and make life better for everyone can be found in a deep dive that the Washington Post recently took into data about credit scores.

...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom did something new — for him. He got aggressively engaged behind the scenes, negotiating with legislators. And it paid off.

Personal, hands on, face-to-face engagement — the kind that's uncharacteristic of this governor.

As a result, Newsom won a huge political and policy victory over Big Oil, as he'...Read more

It is 2016 all over again, and very few have seemed to learn the lesson when it comes to Donald Trump. The Show-Me state’s record can demonstrate why Trump will most likely be the 2024 Republican nominee.

Some pundits have speculated that Trump couldn’t possibly be the Republican nominee, asserting that he is an albatross on the party and ...Read more

Psst, here’s a hot tip from the commodity markets. Now would be a good time to get into copper.

That’s right, copper. The industrial metal used in batteries is expected to experience strong demand as vehicles go electric. For those with the money and expertise to develop copper mines, especially in stable countries such as the U.S. and ...Read more

The conservative agenda that Florida Republicans have unleashed will fundamentally alter public education. That’s why it’s critical now when ingesting this fire hose of bad news to step back and consider the big picture: Where is our education system going? What’s driving these changes, who wins, who loses and what’s the impact on our ...Read more

Ruby Bridges was just 6 years old with a white ribbon in her hair when deputy U.S. Marshals escorted her into a New Orleans classroom. She was there in 1960 to integrate an all-white school. Outside, protesters hurled racism and rancor. Ruby wanted to be brave. She didn’t cry. Parents of many of the other students refused to let their kids ...Read more

Most discussions of voting tend to think of the U.S. as a monolith, when in fact every state (and territory) runs its own election system. At the National Vote at Home Institute (NVAHI), we believe that robust mailed-out ballot systems are the key to voting that is fair and equitable for every American. They increase turnout across demographics,...Read more

Gun politics in the U.S. demonstrates that a popular majority does not always get its way. Even though most Americans support stricter gun-safety laws, proposals for major new regulations reliably face impassable obstacles in Congress.

The standard explanation for this impasse is that the minority is highly mobilized and well-funded. This is ...Read more

At almost 4,000 miles, the United States’ northern border is about twice as long as the U.S.-Mexico border — much of it wild, unmarked and dangerously cold for half the year. And yet, human smuggling and deaths at the U.S.-Canada border have not been a major phenomenon, as they have been down south. Nor has Canada poured billions of dollars ...Read more

We’ve been watching slumps ripple through various parts of the economy over the past 18 months: technology startups and stocks, regional banks and growing concern about commercial real estate. Yet we’re still waiting for the wider labor market to feel the downturn.

Does it even have to? Prior bubbles or periods of economic excess have ...Read more

“Murder most foul,” cries the ghost of Hamlet’s father to explain his own killing in Shakespeare’s play.

We shudder in the United States when yet more children are slain by deranged shooters. Yet, we are determined to keep a ready supply of AR-15-type assault rifles on hand to facilitate the crazy when the insanity seizes them.

The ...Read more

Fort Myers, Florida, was America’s seventh-fastest-growing city, more than doubling in size during the three decades before Hurricane Ian crashed into it last September. The Category 4 storm laid waste to the area before slashing through the heart of the state. But the storm clouds had barely parted before house hunters flocked to Fort Myers ...Read more

"It's a horrible, horrible situation, and we're not going to fix it."

There you have it: With that throwaway line to reporters on the Capitol steps Monday, Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee summed up the Republican Party's deliberate impotence against an epidemic of gun violence and mass shootings that distinguishes this nation from just about all...Read more

With barricades surrounding the Manhattan criminal courthouse and plainclothes officers ordered to dress in their full uniforms, it’s only human to ponder the wisdom of trying Donald Trump for a nonviolent offense related to buying a porn star’s silence.

Richard Nixon’s story suggests it is better for the nation to forgive and forget. But...Read more

Mike Pence, who served a dozen years as a member of Congress from Indiana, as well as four years as vice president under-you-know who, is entitled to the protections of the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause, which says that senators and representatives “shall not be questioned in any other Place” for “any Speech or Debate in ...Read more

From the moment he blustered his way onto the political stage, Donald Trump defied expectations.

He won the White House despite lacking any government or military experience, a first in the nation’s history. As a candidate and then as president, Trump drew supporters ever closer with his brash, impulsive and decidedly unpresidential behavior ...Read more

In 1976, a woman from Roanoke, Virginia, named Rhoda received a prescription for two drugs: estrogen and progestin. Twelve months later, a local reporter noted Rhoda’s surprisingly soft skin and visible breasts. He wrote that the drugs had made her “so completely female.”

Indeed, that was the point. The University of Virginia Medical ...Read more