Sometimes it seems as though the only thing that stands between a functioning democracy and a full-on Trump autocracy is a thin, black-robed line.

Although the Supreme Court, in general, and conservative appellate courts, in particular, have bowed and granted President Donald Trump permission to do pretty much anything he wants, they haven't ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Like millions of Californians, I haven’t voted yet in the primary election. That’s because I can’t decide who should be our governor. Here’s what I’m thinking:

It’s an underwhelming field. But one of these Democratic contenders will very likely replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in January.

Based on the latest ...Read more

Frenzied congressional gerrymandering across the states has become a circular firing squad. Both parties mow down the other’s representation, with Lady Democracy and the public caught in the crossfire.

Readers of editorial pages by now know the arguments. To recap, extreme gerrymandering:

• Makes the primary of the dominant party the ...Read more

Americans were forecast to spend a record $38 billion on Mother’s Day and $24 billion on Father’s Day gifts this year, but they can be difficult holidays for adult children given the estrangement epidemic. Just ask Britney Spears, Prince Harry, Shiloh Jolie or any number of average folks: A YouGov poll showed 38% of U.S. adults refused ...Read more

The debate over health insurance in the United States has returned to the forefront as the Affordable Care Act faces political pressure, insurance premiums continue to climb and physicians experience increasing restrictions from insurance companies. A recent poll shows that roughly 62% to 68% of Americans believe the government has a ...Read more

My Manhattan apartment is about 800 square feet, the same size as my upstairs neighbors’ — except they’re a family of four plus a large dog. Much as that blows my mind, I also realize that, not so long ago, an 800-square-foot apartment for a family of four in New York would have counted as luxurious.

How far we’ve come. A married couple...Read more

We love space, but not as an abstraction. For my twin sons, it is a tradition. Their birthday themes have evolved from “Two the Moon” for their second birthday, featured on NASA.gov, to “From Space to the Farm,” with the boys in those iconic orange astronaut suits, standing in a cornfield. In the year of Inspiration4, we went all in with...Read more

My friend Emma Cooksey dozed off driving her 7-month-old baby home one day. She narrowly avoided a catastrophic crash.

Her lousy sleep was the problem. It haunted her nearly her entire adult life. She talked to doctors about it over and over again, but to no avail. After this near miss, she knew she desperately needed an answer.

Because she ...Read more

Democrats have rolled their eyes at President Donald Trump’s plan for a National Garden of American Heroes in Washington, but they’re looking at it all wrong. An outdoor showcase of classical sculpture depicting major historical figures is a brilliant idea — and the best part is: It already exists! It just needs a little TLC, and the ...Read more

The U.S. Navy says it plans to buy 15 hulking “battleships” over the next 30 years. The number of such behemoths it actually needs comes closer to zero. The sooner Congress recognizes that fact, the better off American taxpayers, and indeed the Navy, will be.

The president introduced the first new warship, dubbed the USS Defiant, in ...Read more

Delivering a university commencement address used to simply be a unique kind of honor. Speakers stand before a podium, wearing a traditional graduation cap and robe, to offer graduates life lessons and inspirational words as they enter the next phrase of life.

But today, speaking at a university commencement ceremony carries considerable risk, ...Read more

The decline in youth smoking is one of the great public-health achievements of the 21st century, celebrated by conservatives and liberals alike, yet the White House is now in the process of endangering it. Unless it reverses course, millions of American children will suffer the consequences.

Tobacco-related death and disease do not discriminate...Read more

If you want to lower rents in the next five weeks, rent control may be appealing. If you want to lower rents in the next five years, it shouldn’t be.

Rents in Las Vegas are dropping. Apartments.com found that Las Vegas rents declined by 0.2 percent in April. Nationally, rents increased by 0.2 percent. Las Vegas was one of just five major ...Read more

In the Rumble in the Jungle, George Foreman came in expecting to end the fight early.

At first, it looked that way. He was stronger, faster, and landing clean punches. I watched the 1974 championship on simulcast 52 years ago and remember how dominant he was in the opening rounds.

By the fifth round, that confidence had faded. Foreman was ...Read more

The American economy is a wonder. The Economist observed that average wages in America’s poorest state, Mississippi, are higher than those in Britain, Canada and Germany. American GDP per capita now runs roughly 40% above western Europe. Post-pandemic productivity growth has been significantly faster than that of the eurozone. The consensus is...Read more

If Washington won’t hold federal immigration agents accountable for misconduct, Minnesota will.

Criminal charges filed Monday here against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Christian Castro sent this powerful warning to agents across the country:

Lawless behavior will not go unanswered, even if there’s a federal badge on your chest...Read more

In 1942, a pregnant Fumiko Hayashida boarded a ferry for Seattle clutching her 13-month-old daughter and a stuffed animal. Her family, owners of one of Bainbridge Island’s largest strawberry farms, was among the first of the more than 120,000 people of Japanese descent shipped to hastily built prisons in the months after Japan’s attack on ...Read more

President Donald Trump, it's well known, is into gold. Every day brings new evidence that he's thoroughly enjoying the "golden age" he pronounced in his inaugural address — as few other Americans are — with stock trades, crypto profiteering and much more, even a new taxpayer-financed slush fund to reward his allies.

As for me, I've gone ...Read more

The dollar amount in Donald Trump’s $1.776 billion slush fund memorializes this nation’s revolutionary break from a king; if this agreement fully goes through, we might as well be returning to an unaccountable monarchy. The origin of this corrupt pot of cash for the president to pay himself, his family and his political allies, including Jan...Read more

Everything, it seems, is rigged these days.

Unhappy with the economy? That’s because it’s rigged. Fed up with your healthcare? It’s rigged, too. Frustrated with elected leaders in Washington, Sacramento, Austin or Albany? Rigged, rigged, rigged and rigged.

President Donald Trump arguably kicked off this populist trend of referring to ...Read more