According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, taking into account the recent tax cuts and latest spending bill, the federal budget deficit will surpass $1 trillion by 2020, and the national debt will rise to a staggering $29 trillion by 2028.

One would think that such an enormous level of deficit spending would befit a nation with ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- New national polls show voters are more upbeat about President Donald Trump's performance and more pessimistic about the Democrats' chances of taking back the House. Or not.

An April 8-11 Washington Post-ABC News poll showed Trump's job approval rating at 40 percent, while 56 percent disapproved of his performance.

An April 8-11 ...Read more

A century after airplanes first took to the skies, the concept of flying confounds. Even though air travel is routine, leaving earth to float in an engine-powered tube still feels -- at some level, to most commercial air passengers -- mysterious or scary.

Any sense of terror is misplaced. Flying is safer than driving. Say it with us: Flying is ...Read more

MOSCOW -- The weather was gloriously sunny here on Monday and Tuesday, as if to celebrate the release of tension over the possibility that Saturday's U.S. missile strike in Syria would lead to U.S.-Russia fighting. Perhaps the most significant lesson of the strike is that the military de-confliction channels between Washington and Moscow still ...Read more

How convenient. The Washington Post broke the news this week that the CIA director, Mike Pompeo, met two weeks ago with North Korea's dictator. This revelation came just as Senate Democrats' opposition to his nomination to be secretary of state was mounting.

The argument now from the White House is that a vote not to confirm Pompeo would be a ...Read more

The Trump administration lawsuit over California "sanctuary" laws meant to limit local and state law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration officials is sure to make headlines for months, perhaps years, to come. Both sides say they are responding to nasty, provocative, even un-American tactics. Both sides also offer meatier arguments ...Read more

Even before President Donald Trump's inauguration, speculation swirled about why he would avoid punishing Russian transgressions and instead advocate rapprochement with President Vladimir Putin. A private intelligence report known as the Steele Dossier, funded by Trump's political opponents, suggested that Trump had been caught in a Russian "...Read more

The recent treatment of two black customers by a Starbucks manager in Philadelphia and their resulting arrest was disgraceful.

Exactly what transpired between the two men and the manager who asked them to leave and then called police last Thursday is unclear.

But the outcome is clear: Two black customers were treated in a way markedly ...Read more

On Tuesday, a shoe that had dangled for 18 months finally fell on Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens: Attorney General Josh Hawley said Greitens had committed "potentially criminal acts" by using a charity's donor list to solicit contributions to his 2016 gubernatorial campaign.

This allegation is not nearly as scandalous as taking a photograph of a ...Read more

"Congratulations! You've been accepted ..." Imagine my excitement when I was accepted into the No. 1 college of my dreams, a four-year, private school right here in Connecticut. All of my hard work paid off and I can start to think about future classes, dorm assignments and student activities.

I should be floating on air, right? Wrong.

Now, ...Read more

FBI director James Comey very likely was the final shove in defeating Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. There were numerous accomplices, including President Donald Trump and Clinton herself, but his assistance had terminal importance and came on top of misdeeds aplenty.

Seriously afflicted by the Washington disease of self-worship, Comey ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- It's official. U.S. natural gas production has reached record highs.

The federal Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports natural gas production for 2017 reached "the highest volume on record."

The U.S. has led the world in natural gas production since 2009, thanks to technological breakthroughs that unlocked previously ...Read more

Come walk with me. Today we are accepting a post-publication, book-peddling challenge that was issued as a footnote, of sorts.

Fired FBI Director James Comey has been urging everyone to walk in his shoes as he re-lives his decision that became perhaps the most controversial move by a non-candidate in the history of U.S. presidential politics.

...Read more

WASHINGTON-- I bought fired FBI director James Comey's book, "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership," so you don't have to buy it.

I read it so you don't have to read it.

It's not a bad read, especially if you like to know details of what goes on behind the headlines and are interested in how a bullied 12-year-old went on to run the ...Read more

Missouri lawmakers don't normally mind mixing politics and religion. So perhaps they'll listen to some of the faith leaders with whom they often agree and rethink both their push for concealed carry in churches and their opposition to gun reform.

First, Catholic bishops tried to urge them in the right direction: "We, the Catholic bishops of ...Read more

The arrest of two black men at a Philadelphia Starbucks demonstrates that racism in policing, and in daily life, is still an urgent problem in America.

On April 12, a Starbucks employee called the police to report the two men for "refusing to make a purchase or leave." Although the men waiting at a table to meet a friend did nothing wrong, they...Read more