Politics
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COUNTERPOINT: Trump coal bailouts lock-in higher costs, forestall real solutions
People and businesses nationwide are reckoning with rapidly rising electricity costs. Last year, 80 million people struggled to afford their utility bills. At the same time, electricity demand is newly surging from the AI-driven buildout of massive data centers, threatening even higher electricity costs to come.
The need for ...Read more
Commentary: The philanthropic model behind America's presidential centers is changing
When the Obama Presidential Center opens on June 19, it will arrive with the kind of civic gravity Chicago understands well. A dedication ceremony. A weekend of programming. A new landmark rising from Jackson Park after years of anticipation, scrutiny, fundraising and debate.
Chicago has always known how to stage history. What matters now is ...Read more
Commentary: How moms can fight the emotional burnout fueled by modern parenting
At this time of year, family calendars implode under the weight of school performances, sports tournaments, award ceremonies, teacher gifts, graduation traditions, summer camp forms and holiday travel plans. How to deal with it all?
Moms often get a piece of well-intentioned advice: Just trust your instincts. Follow your heart. Tune into how ...Read more
POINT: Coal power is a critical tool amid a power supply emergency
The Trump administration’s embrace of coal power is a timely and essential response to a three-headed energy emergency. The United States is facing an electricity supply crisis shaped by rapidly eroding grid reliability, soaring power demand and ballooning prices. The coal fleet is critical to tackling all three.
The North American Electric ...Read more
Commentary: What Andy Rooney might say about the downfall of '60 Minutes'
The turmoil engulfing CBS News and “60 Minutes” has left me wondering what my grandfather Andy Rooney would make of it all.
Rooney died in 2011 after more than three decades as a fixture of the newsmagazine, and with each passing year I find myself wishing we could hear one more of his droll observations about the state of the world. He had...Read more
David M. Drucker: The GOP's YOLO caucus is peak government
The fact that a pair of Republican senators are being heralded for doing their jobs reveals just how much Congress has atrophied, especially during President Donald Trump’s second term.
Freed from the president’s political yoke, Senator Thom Tillis (because he opted against running for reelection) and Senator Bill Cassidy (because he lost ...Read more
Commentary: Judicial independence over judicial sycophancy
While the president of the United States has the power under Article II, section 2 of the United States Constitution to appoint justices of the Supreme Court and other federal judges, all of whom have lifetime tenure, the president must exercise this power with the “Advice and Consent” of the Senate.
The Senate’s advice and consent ...Read more
Editorial: National security is a job for professionals, not partisans
For all the consternation surrounding the choice of Bill Pulte to oversee U.S. intelligence agencies, it’s hardly the first time the White House has elevated a partisan with few evident qualifications to fill a top national-security post. Congress should insist on a more serious approach to the task of protecting Americans.
Pulte, slated to ...Read more
Abby McCloskey: US parents deserve time with their newborns
The private sector is cutting parental leave benefits. The U.S. fertility rate is at sub-replacement levels. Republicans in Congress seem rudderless in the face of affordability concerns. This is exactly the right time for a federal paid parental leave policy. Specifically, America needs a six-week baseline for all working parents. And yes, we ...Read more
Allison Schrager: The influencer economy has crossed the line
Saturdays in Greenwich Village require contending with the lines. Starting at 9 a.m., you see blocks-long queues of people waiting for all sorts of things: bagels, pastries, pizza, soggy sandwiches, premium frozen yogurt with candy on it. Even if you don’t want to, you will get swept up in a line, because they take over the sidewalks.
To be ...Read more
Commentary: Mamdani is about to make housing even more expensive
New York's Comrade Mayor, Zohran Mamdani, is ready to seize the means of production, starting with the landlords. As always with communism, it’ll mean quality goes down and shortages will appear because the government destroys the incentive to provide the very thing it seeks to “redistribute.”
Interestingly, and contrary to the promises ...Read more
Gustavo Arellano: Spencer Pratt could have been a real contender. His greatest enemy was himself
Spencer Pratt had a few things going for him when he launched an insurgent campaign to become Los Angeles' next mayor.
He had a heart-tugging origin story that saw him transform from a has-been television star into one of the thousands of residents who lost their home in last year's Palisades fire. He faced an unpopular incumbent in Mayor Karen...Read more
Lisa Jarvis: Trump's Medicaid cuts keep getting more harmful
When Congress passed sweeping Medicaid cuts as part of President Donald Trump’s signature tax bill last year, the headline numbers were grim: Some 7.5 million people were expected to lose coverage due to changes to the public health insurance program.
Now, an already bad situation for Americans’ health is getting worse. Seemingly at every ...Read more
Commentary: The unfortunate gerrymandering wars
A 1965 “Wizard of Id” comic strip by Johnny Hart and Brant Parker went as follows: The diminutive but tyrannical king is addressing his subjects on the need for peace and harmony. He then proclaims, “We must all live by the Golden Rule.”
The people were confused at what he meant until the Joker clued them in: “He means whoever has the...Read more
Commentary: In defense of 'crackpot schemes' for AI governance
AI is unpopular. And nearly a billion people use ChatGPT.
AI is destroying jobs. And fields predicted to have been eliminated by AI, like radiology, continue to grow and leverage the technology to improve their work.
AI is wrecking the environment. And state officials are learning from hyperscalers how to run the grid more efficiently.
A ...Read more
Lynn Schmidt: Congress is a silent partner in Trump's astonishing corruption
The Trump family is openly looting the federal government. Congressional Republicans have decided that's fine.
My congressman, Rep. Bob Onder, recently sent a constituent email praising the Trump White House for its anti-fraud efforts. "The White House anti-fraud task force," he wrote approvingly, "highlighted efforts to identify fraud in ...Read more
Commentary: US should invest in people, not wars
Elected officials throughout the country are failing to help their constituents, which is their job. Right now in the United States, too many people in power work instead to represent corporate interests, billionaire donors and an oligarch class focused on preserving its advantages.
It is a betrayal that millions of ordinary Americans feel ...Read more
Editorial: Washington is hemorrhaging taxpayer cash
Government has never been known as a model of efficiency. Yet a new report from the Government Accountability Office should make even the most hardened cynic blanch.
Last week, the GAO revealed that the federal government lost at least $186 billion to “improper payments” in fiscal 2025. That’s up by $24 billion from the previous fiscal ...Read more
Editorial: The home of American astronomy is thriving after a close call in Wisconsin
Born in the 1890s and nearly killed off 20 years ago, the historic Yerkes Observatory along the shores of southeast Wisconsin’s Geneva Lake is getting a new life.
Instead of condos and a high-end resort, scientific research continues, and a growing array of recreational activities have turned an institution once deemed obsolete into a one-of...Read more
Commentary: Why history needs no training wheels
Language is a living organism, constantly adapting and shifting to reflect the society that wields it. Historically, this evolution has been characterized by expansion, specifically the continuous absorption of new concepts, cultural exchanges, and technological advancements that broaden our collective vocabulary.
Yet, observing the current ...Read more




















































