Politics
/ArcaMax
COUNTERPOINT: It's time to halt the AI data center attack
Gasoline prices have nearly doubled nationwide over the last month, as President Donald Trump’s war with Iran continues. As a result, many consumer staples that rely on diesel-fueled trucks to reach store shelves are also rising in cost. And food prices are climbing especially quickly, in part due to a logjam of global fertilizer supply — ...Read more
Commentary: ICE abuses exemplify a cruel prison system
Every day, more gruesome details emerge of the inhumane conditions inside the detention facilities maintained by agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. There are countless reports of forced labor, sexual and physical assault, filthy facilities and people crammed into cells.
Last year, 32 people died in ICE custody, marking the agency�...Read more
Commentary: Preserving the best parts of César Chávez's legacy
One summer day in 1988, before the sun rose, my parents packed my three younger sisters and me into our beige Chevy station wagon. We drove from Oxnard to Delano, California, to stand in support of what would become César Chávez’s final fast. I remember the brutal heat, the crowded tent, the feeling we were part of something larger.
Chávez...Read more
POINT: A data center moratorium would be a gift to China
As the AI industry heats up globally, several U.S. state legislatures and Sen. Bernie Sanders are calling for a pause on all AI data center development, citing risks of job loss, superintelligence concerns and risks to working people.
Their concerns aren’t baseless, but a data center moratorium is not a solution. Although Sanders hopes it ...Read more
Editorial: No contest -- Supreme Court must uphold birthright citizenship
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments on a case of long-settled law that shouldn’t even be before the justices: birthright citizenship.
The court will weigh President Donald Trump’s outlandish executive order purporting to end the automatic grant of citizenship to those born on U.S. soil to undocumented immigrants. We doubt...Read more
John Rash: War in Iran threatens to become a global food crisis
Pain at the pump is how Americans often perceive the economic impact of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran.
Pain at the plate, however, is how the world may soon see the conflict.
To be sure, the omnipresent price of gasoline seen at nearly every intersection is important. But the impact doesn’t stop there.
Because while the global focus is on ...Read more
Mary McNamara: The golden idol at the center of Trump's presidential library is a terrible idea -- even for him
The recently revised food pyramid may put fruit as a medium priority, but there is nothing the Trump administration likes more than the apple of discord.
Every news cycle, the president seems intent on introducing something new for Americans to argue about: the wisdom (and legality) of war in Iraq; the term “affordability”; the efficacy of ...Read more
Editorial: A victory for the First Amendment at the high court
Progressives wasted no time characterizing the Supreme Court’s decision Tuesday on “conversion therapy” as an attack on the LGBTQ community. It is no such thing, representing instead a victory for the First Amendment.
The justices ruled 8-1 in favor of a religious counselor who challenged a 2019 Colorado law banning attempts to “change ...Read more
Commentary: How the White House can cut prices at the pump -- and elsewhere
Gas and diesel prices have soared since the start of the Iran war, but the situation could get even worse later this year because of ethanol requirements and problems with fertilizer supply chains.
To help keep a lid on prices at the pump, just days ago, the Environmental Protection Agency waived the summertime cap on the amount of ethanol ...Read more
John M. Crisp: I have a car that drives itself; you should have one, too
No one has ever accused me of being overly eager to adopt emerging technologies.
Our house came with an automated irrigation system, but we haven’t used it in years. I write on a word processor, of course, but I keep seven manual typewriters around. I still enjoy the old-fashioned thwack of keys against the platen. I understand that there is ...Read more
Commentary: Donald Trump's gut instincts on Iran have failed since his first term
President Donald Trump once remarked that his intuition and instincts were the key factors separating him from the mere mortals trying to negotiate good deals. “I have a gut, and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else’s brain can ever tell me,” the president said at one point during his first term.
And in many cases, Trump’s ...Read more
Mary Ellen Klas: A crackdown on Dreamers is a crackdown on the American Dream
As a high-achieving college kid, Alex Vallejo wasn’t surprised by the kind of young people he met at the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers’ national conference in Salt Lake City three years ago. Like him, there were other computer-science students who were in their school robotics clubs. Like him, there were other web developers and...Read more
Allison Schrager: $100,000 in Social Security benefits is too much
When someone says a retiree is “living off Social Security,” it’s not usually $100,000 a year. But some U.S. retired couples will be receiving that much in a few years — and a proposal to cap their benefit at that amount has started a painful and much-needed conversation about who should get government benefits and how much.
America’s...Read more
Editorial: Cool it on piling extra energy regulations on new home construction
The Chicago suburb of Naperville already has an extensive system of building codes and inspections, so when it began to consider adding another layer earlier this year, area homebuilders were alarmed.
Adopting a “stretch” energy code that goes beyond existing conservation requirements would add thousands of dollars to the cost of a new home...Read more
Commentary: The tax-season trap: When refunds become a child care safety net
Most parents are more than happy to receive a tax refund. That money can help pay bills, fund a long-overdue vacation or simply offer breathing room. But for too many families, especially Black families, that refund is not extra. It too often becomes a temporary relief from a child care gap created by school systems that are no longer designed ...Read more
Editorial: The fallout of California's minimum wage folly
Some things in life are difficult. Predicting the negative consequences of exorbitant and rapid minimum wage hikes isn’t one of them.
In 2023, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a $20-an-hour minimum wage law for fast-food workers. It went into effect in April 2024. For all workers, the minimum wage in California is $16.90 an hour.
This ...Read more
Editorial: Pete Hegseth's holy war
As Donald Trump’s war with Iran grows more volatile by the day, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s bloodthirst and proselytizing risks spinning the conflagration further out of control.
In a war with no clear purpose, Hegseth has celebrated unleashing “death and destruction from the sky all day long.” He also has dismissed international ...Read more
Rochelle Olson: As gas prices soar, Tafoya wants Americans to eat cake
Let’s talk about U.S. Senate candidate Michele Tafoya’s viral quote about Starbucks, war and patriotism.
The Republican podcaster and former TV sports reporter is running to become one of two U.S. senators from Minnesota, succeeding the retiring DFL Sen. Tina Smith.
Her entry into the race has given us a front-row seat to Tafoya’s ...Read more
Editorial: Federal workers go without pay as lawmakers take a break
Let them eat giant turkey legs.
Members of Congress have been spotted at Disney World, home of the enormous treat, at casinos and ballgames during their two-week, so-called “work from district” time. Right after the Senate adjourned, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was spotted at Disney World with a bubble wand. Graham claims he was there to ...Read more
Commentary: How will Iran war end? Americans' pain will become unbearable
Caskets demand explanations.
Thirteen American service members have been killed and more than 300 wounded since President Donald Trump and Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu launched their war against Iran a month ago. For the families who’ve lost sons and daughters, the American commander in chief’s shifting explanations for the war are ...Read more




















































